<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Con Games by DestianaCaldin</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678220">Con Games</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestianaCaldin/pseuds/DestianaCaldin'>DestianaCaldin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Con Artists, F/M, action and fluff, no superpowers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:47:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678220</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestianaCaldin/pseuds/DestianaCaldin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a chance meeting involving a con, they weren't supposed to meet again. But what happens when they do meet again and have to work together on a job? </p><p>Snowbarry Con Artists AU without superpowers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. It's Nice to Con You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey there! This is my first time posting on A3O but you might know me from ff.net (though I've been gone for a while now). But I'm back now with this brand new story! I hope you like it :) I'll be posting my other works gradually on here too if anyone is interested :)</p><p>Anyway, this is an con artists AU Snowbarry story, without superpowers. Also I'm a pretty honest person, scams and cons are not my speciality, so anything related that you'll find here is based off things I found on the internet/movies/series.</p><p>I don't own anything ! Enjoy ;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun was slowly travelling back down as Barry took a sip of coffee, enjoying the soft breeze of mid afternoon. He'd had a slow day and wasn't expecting to achieve much more for the rest of the day.</p><p>Sitting on the terrace of a small coffee shop, Barry looked at the streets bustling with life around him; some people were running to burn through their energy, other because they were late; some were slowly walking around without any obvious purpose. He loved moments like these when he could simply enjoy observing people around him, when nobody was really paying attention to him. Those were the moments when people dropped pretences, when he could really see them.</p><p>Those were the moments when he could truly learn about people, their habits, their hobbies, the way they moved, the way they interacted with each other… Afternoons like these were part of his job. He had to learn about people, to know them, like really know them, more than they knew themselves. To learn about those little tells they didn't know they had, that showed their true feelings.</p><p>From a very young age, Barry had learned to live off what he could find in the streets – as in what he could steal from people. It had all begun with a picking a few pockets and now it was with grand schemes, covert identities and tricks. Through the years, he had developed a whole skill set of various methods to earn his living.</p><p>He didn't like the word thief. He considered himself more of an artist… a con artist.</p><p>Because it truly was an art to convince people you could be trusted, that you were someone they could confide in. Such an art that most marks didn't realise they'd been conned until you were long gone… with their money.</p><p>"Oh no… no no no… no!"</p><p>Barry was pulled out of his thoughts by a woman's voice. He glanced behind him to a young woman fumbling through her purse, looking frantically around her. She seemed on the verge of really freaking out, muttering "no" repeatedly under her breath.</p><p>With an arched brow, Barry shifted in his seat and decided to pay more attention to that particular woman. She was sitting a few tables away from him, an empty cup of coffee in front of her. Her brown hair was neatly gathered into a bun, except for a rebel lock falling in front of her eyes. She was wearing a casual summer dress and her bag was sitting in her lap, most of its contents laying on the table where she had put them while looking for something.</p><p>As panic seemed to rise in the young woman's chest, her movements became frantic and more of her things scattered around her. A lipstick was lying at her feet, sunglasses were on the edge of the table waiting for that final shoved to fall down, an open hand sanitizer was dripping on the table, a pencil was stuck between her lips as she continued her series of "no".</p><p>To the untrained eye, that woman looked to be on the verge of crying, and anyone with a semblance of a heart would come rushing to her rescue, trying to help her. But to Barry's eyes, her chaos seemed to be controlled, as if every movement was mastered and calculated. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt like there was more to the situation than it seemed. So he decided to let it play out, rather than trying to help out and ask her what was going on. Even though something did pull at his heartstrings, watching her unravel like that.</p><p>As expected, Barry's attention wasn't the only one drawn to her; the patrons of the nearby tables were also looking at her. One man in particular, with blond hair and blue eyes, was already getting up to approach her.</p><p>"Ma'am? Are you okay?" the stranger asked softly, as he reached the young woman's table.</p><p>She jerked her head up, watching him with surprise filling her hazel eyes. "Oh… I… I'm sorry if I disturbed you… and I'm sorry for being such a mess." She stuttered, tucking her stray hair behind her ear. "I just…"</p><p>She stopped as if finishing her sentence was too hard for her, and let her head fall forward again, allowing her lock of hair to fall back in front of her eyes. The stranger instantly kneeled next to her as she started fumbling through her bag again.</p><p>"What is going ma'am? Can I help you with something?" he asked quietly.</p><p>The woman stopped again and chanced a glance around her. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to them anymore. Except Barry. And as her eyes caught Barry's, she stopped for half a second, during which masks seemed to fall, panic erased from her features. And Barry almost saw surprise in her eyes.</p><p>She was beautiful. The intelligence in her hazel eyes was breathtaking. They looked like they could read any situation, analyse and solve any riddle they fell upon. They made Barry want to know more.</p><p>But before Barry could actually read the situation, the woman's attention was back on the blond stranger kneeling beside her, panic written all over her face again. The exchange between Barry and the woman had been stealth and went unnoticed by the blond man.</p><p>"I lost my engagement ring!" The woman explained, a slight tremor in her voice. She nodded towards the hand sanitizer on the table and continued. "I took it off just to wash my hands, and now… now I can't find it anymore!"</p><p>"Well it must be somewhere around here, couldn't have gone too far right?" The man started looking around them for said engagement ring.</p><p>"It has to, but I'm already late for my job interview, I can't stay to look for it. Oh my god what am I going to do?" a soft sob escaped her lips and she instantly put her hand in front of her mouth.</p><p>"How about I look for it while you go to your job interview." The man suggested, a reassuring smile stretching his lips. "I'll give you a call when I find it and we can meet up."</p><p>The woman seemed to hesitate but then she perked up and smiled back at the man. "Oh thank you that'll be great! I'll give you a reward for it!"</p><p>The man chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no, there's no need, really."</p><p>"Oh I insist! This is my late fiancé's engagement ring; it is worth way more than money to me." She paused, seemingly considering her next words. "I'll give you a reward of 1500$ for it! No wait, 2000$ even!"</p><p>Barry's eyebrows jumped up at that new information as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. He looked around him to see he was the only one witnessing this. Wait no, he wasn't the only one. In the shadow of a building on the other side of the street, he could see someone wearing a hoodie that seemed to be also watching the exchange.</p><p>Something told him he had been right all along. There was more to the situation than it seemed. Barry looked back to the woman's table to see as they were exchanging phone numbers. So the helpful stranger had accepted the deal and would look around for the ring while the woman left for her appointment.</p><p>With renewed interest, Barry watched as the woman gathered her stuff, thanked the man again and left, while the stranger continued looking around for the ring. For the next ten minutes, he searched without any success, getting more frustrated as each minute passed.</p><p>Well of course he'd get frustrated. The idea of such a reward – just for finding a ring that should be lying around somewhere near – would motivate pretty much anyone. And maybe the idea of seeing that beautiful woman again was an added bonus. Except the man couldn't find that stupid ring.</p><p>The blond man finally stopped looking around and decided to wait at the woman's table, probably hoping he would stumble onto the ring at some point.</p><p>Barry checked the time. 5:10 in the afternoon. Pretty late for a job interview in his opinion, but could happen. Barry opened his newspaper and continued the crossword puzzle he had been doing before. But his mind was occupied by what he had witnessed. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't finished.</p><p>About 20 minutes later, something in the corner of his eyesight caught his attention. A young Hispanic man with long hair approached the terrace of the coffee shop and was kneeling on the ground to redo his shoelaces.</p><p>Barry lifted his head to watch him more closely. He was wearing a dark hoodie sweater with jeans and sneakers. Barry instantly glanced back at the building on the opposite side of the street, but the hooded person he had seen before was gone.</p><p>If his instincts were right, the young man doing his shoelaces and the hooded bystander had to be the same person. Barry's attention went back to the Hispanic man. That's when he noticed something shiny on the floor next to the long-haired man's feet. Had he missed it before or had it simply appeared there?</p><p>Barry watched as the man picked up what seemed to be an engagement ring and stood up tall, putting the ring in his line of sight. The blond man, that had also seen him find the ring, jumped off his chair and went straight to the other man.</p><p>"Oh thank god you found my ring!" He said relieved, instantly trying to take the ring away from the Hispanic man.</p><p>But the younger man pulled back his hand, keeping the ring to himself. "What do I get for finding it?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.</p><p>The last piece of the puzzle was finally in place and understanding fell on Barry, drawing a huge smile on his face. Hook, line, and sinker… This was brilliant, Barry thought. The blond man was being conned and he had no idea.</p><p>If he were anybody else, Barry would have intervened, saved that innocent man from being conned out of a few bucks. But Barry was also in the con business, he wasn't about to jeopardize the work of a fellow con artist. Especially one as pretty as that brunette woman.</p><p>In the next few minutes, Barry witnessed as the two other men negotiated the terms of their exchange. The blond man offered 500$ for the ring (as he would get a 2000$ reward afterwards anyway) and the younger man accepted the cash. And they went they separate ways.</p><p>Later today, the blond man would try to call that mystery woman to get his reward for finding the ring, expecting more money than he gave away, and maybe even ask her out. But that number would be a dead-end, no mystery woman on the other side of the line. He would then check the engagement ring in his pocket and realise it was just a cheap piece of jewellery, probably not worth more than 10$. And tonight he would go to bed with 500$ less in his bank account. He'd been conned. Simple but brilliant.</p><p>As the Hispanic man was about to turn around the corner, Barry left a few bucks on the table to pay for his coffee, grabbed his newspaper and followed him. He knew how to stay unnoticed while following someone, Oliver had taught him everything he knew. The secret was to stay far enough so that your target didn't feel your presence, but close enough so that you didn't lose sight of them.</p><p>Barry followed him for a few minutes, until his target stopped near the driver side of a sports car. He watched as the man exchanged a few words with the driver, before handing in an envelope (probably full of cash) and leaving again.</p><p>Barry considered continuing to follow him, but his instinct was telling him that the driver of that car was the person he wanted to meet. So he let the young man disappear at the next street corner before jogging to the car himself.</p><p>As expected, he found the mystery woman behind the wheel of the car, counting the bills in the envelope. As soon as she saw Barry approaching, she closed the envelope and threw it in the glove box. When she turned back to her window, he was already standing there, laughter in his eyes. He bowed down to rest his elbows on the windowsill of her car</p><p>"I have to say, you have the whole damsel in distress act perfectly mastered."</p><p>Her features went from surprise to confusion so fast that the untrained eye wouldn't have noticed. Oh she was good.</p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied in a firm and steady voice, both hands on her steering wheel as if she were about to drive away. "Now if you could please take a step back, I have somewhere I need to be."</p><p>"Really brilliant," Barry continued, ignoring her request, "he didn't suspect a thing! He probably still doesn't, really… But you already know that, because you know how good you are. Or you would be long gone and you would have done the money exchange far away from your mark."</p><p>"I'm being serious, sir." She repeated, anger appearing in her voice. "I don't know what you're talking about."</p><p>Barry smirked. "Oh come on, no need to play pretend, I figured it all out. Nice take on the violin scam by the way."</p><p>"Sir, please leave, don't make me call the police." She huffed, glancing around but no one was paying attention to them.</p><p>He chuckled at her empty threat. "Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you. The last thing you want is the police paying attention to you."</p><p>She glared at him and his breath got caught in his throat. She really was beautiful. She intrigued him. He wanted to know more.</p><p>"Let me say it one last time, leave me be."</p><p>"Okay sure, let's play it that way." Barry conceded. "I'll leave you alone. Just know I admired your work. It was simple and calculated. It worked perfectly. I admit I would love to see more." He paused, looked her straight in the eyes and smiled. "If you ever need a partner, you know how to join me."</p><p>"I… what? No I don't…" She stuttered with a frown and Barry was filled with pride as he watched her act cracking under the surprise. He was sure that if he pushed further, maybe she'd open up a little, maybe he could get her name. But he wouldn't do that. Not today.</p><p>"You'll figure it out." He winked at her, a cheeky grin adorning his face, before straightening back up, waving goodbye and leaving her there.</p><p>Did he want to know more about her? Yes of course, it had been a while since he had met someone as interesting as her.</p><p>So why did he leave so easily? It seemed too simple to get his answers now. He liked the thrill of the chase. He liked not knowing when he'd see her again. He liked wondering how long it would get her to figure out that he had slipped his newspaper in her car. And that in said newspaper, he had scribbled his phone number. Would she contact him? He had no idea. But the ball was in her court.</p><p>He had felt a connection when their eyes had met on the coffee shop's terrace. He knew she had felt it too. What she would do with it was her choice.</p><p>But who better to understand a con artist than another con artist?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, what did you think? Let me know! Reviews keep me motivated :D</p><p>I have the next 2 chapters already finished so they are coming soon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Let's Con Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>[6 months later]</em>
</p><p>Music was swinging from one side of the room to the other, people were laughing, couples were dancing, hands were being shaken, and drinks were being served. This evening had everything a typical high-end charity event was supposed to have. Rich people drinking and spending their money on a cause that really didn't need more money. But they would all go to sleep with a lighter conscious tonight.</p><p>Barry rolled his eyes. He hated crowds like these. Not a single one of these people had worked a single day in their lives. None would actually have to work in the future. Yet they were dressed in fancy suits, drinking expensive champagne and had their bank accounts filled with money. He promised himself that he would one day create a fake charity just to con those people out of their money.</p><p>But today was not that day.</p><p>No, tonight's purpose was to establish his cover identity with all those people. Mingle, chat, introduce himself as James Levi, a young start-up creator, full of ambition and looking for investors. He had created a whole project that had the potential of being the next breakthrough in the forensic science department. His story was solid, he knew it. Any smart investor would believe in his project. Nobody would suspect him of being a fraud. Not tonight at least.</p><p>And people wouldn't be signing checks for him tonight, he just wanted to plant the seed, make his name known. So there wasn't much at stake during this operation.</p><p>So why had he a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach? Like something wasn't where it was supposed to be…</p><p>Barry grabbed a champagne glass as a waiter with a tray walked by. He took a sip while smoothing a hand down his tie. If he could focus on the task at hand, he could ignore that strange feeling. First step was to spot potential investors, people with obvious money and no self-control. Second step was to approach them, without them seeing that he had an ulterior motive.</p><p>On his right, he recognized a rich heir of a multi-million dollar company, on his left stood the daughter of a famous oil rich family and her current suitors. And right in front of him, walking down the stairs leading to the main room, was Eobard Thawne, owner of a very successful tech company, but also organiser of tonight's charity.</p><p>He was wearing a dark three-piece suit, shiny shoes and an arrogant smirk. He was the perfect mark for Barry's con. His greed would push him to invest in Barry's project. He just had to press the right buttons.</p><p>As Eobard made his way through the crowd of people, Barry put his glass away and instantly approached him, not wanting to miss this opportunity to get his mark alone.</p><p>"Mr Thawne, it is a pleasure to meet you." The con artist offered his hand as soon as he was in Eobard's earshot. "I have to admit, tonight's event is simply magnificent."</p><p>A proud look appeared on the Eobard's face. "Well thank you, I do try my best to offer my friends the very best."</p><p>Friends. Yeah, right.</p><p>Barry took advantage of the situation to follow-up with more subtle and intelligent compliments. Stroking Eobard's ego without seeming like a creepy fan was a great way to get the man's attention. A few more back-and-forth and Eobard would ask Barry what he did in his life. And then would the real con begin.</p><p>Barry was so engrossed with analysing Mr Thawne that he didn't notice someone making its way towards them. Not until <em>she </em>looped her arm around Eobard's, a sweet smile on her lips.</p><p>"There you are honey, I've been waiting for you at the… Oh!" she stopped, as she seemed to suddenly realise Eobard wasn't alone. But Barry knew better, she had known all along. "Oh I'm sorry for being so rude, I'm Amy."</p><p>She offered her free hand to Barry, expecting him to bow and kiss it. But he had frozen up. There she was, the mystery woman he had caught conning an innocent man on the terrace of that café. The woman in whose car he had left his phone number. The woman whose call he had been waiting for the past 6 months but that had never come. The woman that had occupied his thoughts during an impressive number of hours.</p><p>He had to pause to take a good look at her, making sure he was seeing right. She looked different, yet exactly like the last time he had seen her. Was she here on a job? If that was the case, no way Amy was her real name.</p><p>Was she here for him? To stop him? Was she about to blow his cover?</p><p>"What are you doing here?" He suddenly blurted out before he could get a hold of his shock.</p><p>She frowned and pulled her hand back, since he didn't seem anywhere close to actually take it. "I'm sorry, have we met before?" She asked. Even her voice sounded a little different, yet there was a touch of familiarity in it.</p><p>Eobard scoffed at Barry's lack of manners. "Darling, do you know this <em>gentleman</em>?"</p><p>That last word was said with a hint of disdain and she raised a delicate eyebrow at it, before shaking her head slightly. "No, I don't think I've had the pleasure."</p><p>Barry seemed to understand that he was acting way too weirdly for someone of his appearing standards. He cleared his throat and rolled back his shoulders, standing straighter. "No I'm sorry, I was startled by your beauty." Nice save, Barry thought to himself. "James Levi, the pleasure is all mine."</p><p>"I was just about to ask this young man what his job was." Eobard explained, pleased with how Barry had apologised.</p><p>The woman nodded, her eyes never leaving Barry for more than a second. Barry then realised he had been staring back at her for way too long and hadn't really paid attention to his mark.</p><p>"I'm in the business of Forensic Technologies." He answered, trying to stay faithful to his cover. He couldn't let her disturb him.</p><p>"Like dead bodies technologies?" Eobard asked, suddenly very interested.</p><p>Before he could answer, the woman interrupted their conversation again, with a hand on Eobard's shoulder. "Well I'm going to let you boys talk about murders, while I go mingle. I saw Mrs Anderson wearing a fabulous Louis Vuitton bag, I have to ask her where she got it!"</p><p>She pecked a kiss on Eobard's cheek and just as she was about to leave, a waiter passed by with a tray of champagne glasses. "Oh champagne!" she cheered. "Have you tried the champagne, Mr Levi? It is heavenly." She grabbed two glasses and handed one to Barry. "Try it." She insisted.</p><p>He accepted the champagne flute and before he could thank her, she had disappeared in the crowd of rich people. So he turned his attention back to Eobard and continued their conversation. He had to focus on the job.</p><p>But as the conversation went on, Barry couldn't help his mind from wandering. What the hell was she doing here? Why did he have to see her again now? He had waited for her to call him. He was sure she had found his note – it had been on the first page of that newspaper, for goodness' sake.</p><p>For a short second he wondered if she had simply forgotten about him. She must meet thousands of people on the job, how did he stand out? But he pushed that thought away as soon as it appeared. He had caught her during a con, that wasn't something you forgot just like that. Plus he had seen it in her eyes, she had recognised him even before he had seen her.</p><p>All while listening to Eobard boast about that last real smart investment he had done, Barry slowly took a sip of champagne. And that's when he felt it on the tip of his fingers. There was something small taped to the bottom of his stem glass. If he had to take a guess, it was a small piece of paper.</p><p>Not wanting to draw attention, Barry waited a couple of minutes before excusing himself from the conversation and retreated in a corner where nobody would pay attention to him.</p><p>There was indeed a small piece of paper, folded in half, taped to his glass. The glass apparently-named-Amy had given to him.</p><p>With newfound curiosity, Barry detached it, put the half empty glass away, and unfolded the piece of paper. A short message was handwritten on it:</p><p>
  <em>"Meet me on the 2</em>
  <em>nd</em>
  <em> floor's kitchen. C."</em>
</p><p>Oh well, she <em>did</em> remember him! And Amy <em>was </em>a fake name.</p><p>Barry raised his head, trying to spot her, but she was nowhere in sight. Well he did have a clue to where she currently was. With a few swift strides, he escaped through a service door and joined the staircase.</p><p>Climbing the stairs two by two, Barry arrived a short moment later on the second floor. It didn't take him much longer to find the kitchen door. There, he took a second to catch his breath and to straighten his suit and tie. He felt a thrill run up his spine and smiled. It had been a while since he had felt such excitement.</p><p>After rolling back his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Barry finally pushed the door open.</p><p>And then he saw her.</p><p>She was sitting on the middle kitchen island, wearing her long blue dress, legs crossed, leaning back on one hand, a champagne flute in the other. Some of her hair was tucked behind her left ear, while the rest ran free on the right side.</p><p>At the sound of the door opening, she instantly looked up and his breath caught in his throat. She looked even more beautiful in the dimmed light of the empty kitchen. What was it about her that drew him to her a little more each time?</p><p>He silently approached her, not knowing what to say, but not leaving her eyes. When he stopped near her, she sat straighter and cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>"So James, huh?" She started, with a teasing tone.</p><p>"That's me."</p><p>She shrugged slightly. "You don't look like a James to me."</p><p>He chuckled at that. "Oh really? So what do I look like, if I may ask?"</p><p>"Hum… I don't know…" She seemed to think for a second before continuing. "Something a little more old-fashioned. A name you're not completely comfortable with so you go by a nickname." She paused again, her eyes flitting down, before looking back up at him through her eyelashes, one eyebrow raised again. "Maybe a shortened version?"</p><p>"Oh you're good." Barry replied. Good at reading him, but also very good at making him fall for her charms. He knew exactly what she was doing, but he didn't even <em>want</em> to resist.</p><p>"I try." She shrugged before sipping her drink and leaning back again.</p><p>"That doesn't mean I'll tell you my real name." He retorted, pulling his head back slightly. "Not while I don't know yours anyway. Because you are definitely not an Amy." She had signed her note with a "C." after all…</p><p>She chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, let's play it that way, <em>James</em>."</p><p>She patted next to her, telling him to take a seat on the kitchen counter as well. And out of nowhere, she produced a champagne bottle and an empty glass. While she poured him a glass, he hopped up on the counter, not too close so he didn't inadvertently touch her, but close enough that he could smell her perfume. Delightful.</p><p>"Why…" "So…" They started speaking at the same time.</p><p>Their eyes met and they both laughed. She handed him the glass and he accepted it with a soft "You go first."</p><p>"So what are you doing here tonight, <em>James</em>?"</p><p>"What do you mean? I'm here for the charity." He replied, carefully.</p><p>She rolled her eyes softly. "Now come on <em>James</em>, let's drop the act. From what I gathered, you're either some kind of cop or a thief. You can't be anything else because if you were, you wouldn't have caught me conning someone, nor would you have been able to sneak a newspaper in my car. And if you were a cop, you would have arrested me then. So that leaves me with one option. You're a thief."</p><p>Barry bobbed his head up and down, impressed with her detective skills. "I prefer con artist, to be honest."</p><p>She quietly laughed at that. "Hum, I would have to agree with that. Now let's start again. What are you doing here tonight, <em>James</em>?"</p><p>He hesitated for a second. Could he confide in her? He barely knew her – he didn't even know her real name. He just knew they were both criminals and he was <em>oh</em> so attracted to her. So he decided to answer with the bare minimum. "Just doing some recon. You know how it goes. What about you?"</p><p>She nodded and looked down at her glass. "Oh just enjoying a night out with my man."</p><p>"Yeah sure." He huffed. It was his time turn to roll his eyes at her.</p><p>She jerked her head back up, almost offended. "Why, excuse me sir, what is that supposed to mean?"</p><p>Barry smiled at her fake annoyance. "Don't expect me to believe that you're actually here as yourself. There's no way a guy like Eobard Thawne could hold your interest for more than a few minutes!"</p><p>"You don't even know me!" She protested.</p><p>"Oh I know more than you think!" He winked and took a sip of champagne.</p><p>Her mouth hung open as if she were about to retort something, but didn't know what. She frowned and closed her mouth again. "Don't get cocky, <em>James</em>."</p><p>He liked how she said his cover name each time, like she perfectly knew it wasn't his real name but needed to use it anyway. Plus, she couldn't help herself from using a slight British accent each time the name rolled of her tongue.</p><p>He held his hands up in surrender and a small giggle escaped her lips. He was enjoying this conversation way too much.</p><p>"Mr Thawne has a magnificent saxophone." She finally admitted.</p><p>Barry choked on the sip of champagne he had been taking, the bubbles going up his nose. She frowned and softly tapped on his back.</p><p>"A sax… you… you're talking about… about the instrument, huh, right?" He managed to stutter as the champagne went back down his throat.</p><p>Her frown deepened even more before the innuendo in her sentence finally dawned on her. And she burst out laughing.</p><p>"Of course I'm talking about the instrument!" She gasped. "Who do you take me for?"</p><p>"I'm sorry, my bad…" He cleared his throat. "So that magnificent saxophone, go on."</p><p>Yet again, she rolled her eyes at him. But this time, her hazel brown eyes were swimming in amusement and laughter and Barry felt pride puff out his chest.</p><p>"So as I was saying, Mr Thawne as a magnificent saxophone, a very expensive saxophone. A very unused saxophone." She added with a wink.</p><p>"Oh, so a <em>he-wouldn't-even-realise-it-disappeared</em> saxophone."</p><p>She nodded proudly. "Exactly! While we are having our little talk, my partner is at Mr Thawne's mansion, exchanging the saxophone with a cheap version. Mr Thawne won't even notice the difference until the next time he actually touches the instrument, which will probably be in a few months."</p><p>"And by then, you'll be long gone." He completed her story. "Smart! And you won't have any problems selling it?"</p><p>She waved away his concern with her hand. "Oh let me worry about that, I know people."</p><p>"Well, bravo, ma'am." Barry did a slow clap, and she rolled her eyes at him again.</p><p>Barry grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured some in their respective glasses. They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, stealing some glances at each other, enjoying the silence while they could hear hints of the music from downstairs.</p><p>She was the first to speak again. "So… I show you mine, you show me yours…"</p><p>"Oh you know, just doing some investments con." He shrugged. "Nothing big or impressive like Mr Thawne's saxophone."</p><p>She snickered at his cute pout. "Well, real talent is needed to convince people that you're worth investing in."</p><p>"Thanks."</p><p>Silence settled again, yet he felt weirdly comfortable. He barely knew her, yet he trusted her. And he knew it wasn't because she was a thief like him. Because if he had a hard time trusting people, it was even harder for him to trust other con artists.</p><p>But this was different.</p><p>She glanced at her watch. "Well it was a pleasure really talking to you, <em>James</em>. But I have to go before Eobard goes around looking for me. Good luck with your con."</p><p>"Oh…" Barry tried to hide his disappointment, but he found himself lacking of his acting talents around her.</p><p>With a swift and graceful hip movement, she hopped down the kitchen counter and slowly made her way to the door. She turned around when she heard him follow her and stopped him with a single finger to his chest.</p><p>"Best if we don't show up together in the ballroom. Wait a few minutes before coming down." She instructed.</p><p>He looked at her finger against his torso and gulped down before nodding in agreement. No woman should have that much effect on him, it should be illegal.</p><p>Her mouth curved up into a soft smile and turned around again to leave. And then something snapped in Barry's mind.</p><p>"Wait!" he croaked, grabbing her by the waist and turning her around. She let a small gasp escape her lips as her hands flew to his shoulders to keep herself from falling down.</p><p>He had no idea where that boost of confidence had come from, but he felt like he couldn't let her leave that way again. He needed to know more. Wasn't she curious about how he had discovered her first con? Why hadn't she called him? Where would she go next? What was her name? When would he see her again?</p><p>But he hadn't planned on having her so close to him after turning her around. He hadn't thought that far away. He could feel her whole body against his, her small hands grasping his shoulders. And he had no idea what to do, what to say. What did you say to a beautiful con artist about to walk out on you again?</p><p>She was so close that he actually felt her breath getting caught in her throat as their eyes met. He had surprised her too and she seemed as affected by this connection between them as him.</p><p><em>Good</em>.</p><p>There was a touch of gold in her hazel eyes that he hadn't seen before and he felt like drowning in them for hours. But he knew he couldn't do that. He chanced a glance at her lips and immediately looked back to her eyes. He knew what to do.</p><p>He wetted his lips before simply whispering. "Barry, my real name is Barry."</p><p>He saw renewed surprise in her eyes and he caught her stealing a glance at his lips. She hesitated a second before smiling. "Well until next time, <em>Bartholomew</em>."</p><p>And with that, she delicately extracted herself from his hands, and left the room. But not before sending him a wink over her shoulder at the last minute.</p><p>Damn, he was in <em>so</em> <em>much</em> trouble.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well that's it for the 2nd chapter ! Hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you thought ! Any feedback is appreciated :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Paint me a Con</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>[4 months later]</em>
</p>
<p>The Central City Museum was an old building with a touch of European architecture. It had already been renovated half a dozen times since its creation but walking on those wooden floors always felt like walking through history. It was one of the few places in Central City that really showcased art and culture. It was also one of Barry's favourite places in the city; he knew it by heart.</p>
<p>This week was the grand opening of the Van Gogh exposition. Different museums in the world had lent Van Gogh paintings and artworks to the Central City Museum for a period of 6 months. The different artworks hung from the walls like they had been made for this gallery. It was a true honour to see all those paintings together in one place.</p>
<p>Barry stopped in front of one in particular. <em>La Nuit étoilée </em>– The Starry Night – coming straight from the New York MoMA. It was magnificent.</p>
<p>He remembered discovering this painting as a kid. His father had been introducing him to the main European artists and he remembered getting stuck on that particular painting. How could anyone ignore the perfect way the brushstrokes flawlessly melted into each other? It was simply breathtaking how every stroke seemed random yet perfectly calculated.</p>
<p>"Target in view."</p>
<p>Barry was brought back from his reverie by a woman's voice coming through his earpiece. He shook his head to get his bearings back, grabbed his baseball cap and ran his other hand through his hair, before putting the cap back on.</p>
<p>He glanced over his shoulder to the other side of the gallery where he spotted Iris casually looking at another painting. But her feet were pointing in other direction. His eyes followed said direction and saw the head of security guy coming through the door.</p>
<p>Barry turned his attention back to <em>La Nuit étoilée</em> while straightening his hoodie's collar. He took advantage of his wrist being close to his mouth to speak into his hidden microphone. "Iris, do it."</p>
<p>While his partner executed the plan they had been preparing for the last few weeks, Barry turned to the next painting, not paying any attention to what he knew was happening, but staying focused on any sound that was coming out of his earpiece. This was a crucial step of their plan. Only the head of security had the universal pass with highest clearance for the building.</p>
<p>They only had to borrow it for a few minutes, just long enough to copy the RFID encryption so they could later on duplicate the security pass. And then they would have the whole museum at their disposal.</p>
<p>But this step of the plan was very delicate. The head of security was an ex-NSA agent, well versed in the art of secrets and stealing. He knew all the techniques to avoid being stolen from. Getting that badge off of him was the tricky part of the plan.</p>
<p>But Iris was also a pro in the field. She was the best at it. Barry trusted her to get the job done. Yet he couldn't help being a little nervous. He hated not being in total control of a situation.</p>
<p>"Ok I got the security pass."</p>
<p>Barry hadn't realised he'd been keeping his breath in until he heard Iris speak again. A puff of air escaping for his lips, Barry felt relief engulfing him.</p>
<p>"Let me grab my phone to scan it and…" Iris stopped, as she seemed to look through her coat pockets. "Shit!" She swore.</p>
<p>Barry's heart skipped a beat. He turned around, catching Iris' eyes across the room. "What's going?"</p>
<p>Iris frantically looked around her. "Someone stole my phone!" She whispered angrily.</p>
<p>His mind went blank. <em>No.</em> "What do you mean?" He asked, hoping he had heard her wrong the first time.</p>
<p>Iris whirled back in Barry's direction, glaring at him. "Well what do you think I mean Barry? Someone stole my phone!"</p>
<p><em>Shit</em>.</p>
<p>Barry turned back to the paintings and pulled down the brim of his baseball cap to avoid attention and hissed into his comms. "How is that possible?"</p>
<p>"I don't know…" Iris let out a frustrated sigh. "Wait! Some guy bumped into me, but I was so focused on getting away from the head of security that I didn't pay much attention to it. People are really clumsy you know? Anyway, he must have grabbed my phone then."</p>
<p>Barry rolled his eyes. "How can… that's your thing, Iris! How did a professional pickpocket get pickpocketed?"</p>
<p>"Well how the hell should I know?!" Iris protested.</p>
<p>"Will you guys please calm down?" A third voice interrupted them over the comms.</p>
<p>Barry was so focused on what was happening that he had almost forgotten about Felicity monitoring their whole activity back from their van. Computer genius and probably the best hacker in the world, Felicity knew the ins and outs of any digital situations. Without her, Barry would've probably stayed with small cons simply relying on sleights of hands and acting skills.</p>
<p>In a calm voice, she continued. "You two are attracting attention and that's the last thing we want! Now lets focus, we probably have another thief in the gallery. But that's not our main concern. Iris, bring me back that security pass, we'll scan it in the van."</p>
<p>They heard Iris take a breath to calm herself down before replying. "Ok sure, I'll be there in… Oh you got to be kidding me!"</p>
<p>"What now?"</p>
<p>"The security badge is gone too!" Iris explained.</p>
<p>"Oh for heaven's sake!" Barry cursed under his breath.</p>
<p>Felicity hummed, deep in thoughts. They heard her fingers run over her keyboard. "So it seems that guy isn't simply a pickpocket but a professional thief." She spoke calmly. "And he made you. And also used you."</p>
<p>Iris groaned. "Thanks for that Felicity."</p>
<p>"You're welcome, dear." Felicity chuckled back.</p>
<p>"Guys, focus?" Barry interrupted them. "Iris, what did he look like?"</p>
<p>"He had a blue shirt and short hair, that's all I got!"</p>
<p>Barry looked around to see if he could spot anyone fitting the description. There were way too many people for him to find some mystery thief. "Felicity could you…"</p>
<p>"Already on it!" Felicity replied before he could finish his sentence. "Checking the camera feed for our thief right now."</p>
<p>While Felicity did her thing from outside of the building, Barry and Iris both started to weave through the people at the gallery, trying to find someone that could fit the description. But it wasn't much to go by, honestly.</p>
<p>Luckily, Felicity was good at her job too. "Got him! Oh he's good, he never once faces the cameras!" Barry nodded and was about to ask for directions when she started speaking again. "Wait! He just did a switch with some woman in a black jacket. She has your phone now."</p>
<p>Barry scratched his stubble, trying to make sense of it all. What the hell was happening? Who were those people intervening in their con?</p>
<p>"Where is she?" He asked.</p>
<p>Felicity didn't lose time to answer. "Near the Picasso gallery."</p>
<p>Barry was the closest so he decided to take that one. "Ok I'm almost there!"</p>
<p>But he hadn't gotten far before Felicity almost shouted in his ear. "Aaand she's gone!"</p>
<p>Barry stopped dead in his tracks, huffing in annoyance. He gritted his teeth. "What do you mean she's gone?"</p>
<p>"Are you serious right now?" He could almost hear Felicity's eyes roll in her voice. "I mean she's gone. I lost her. She doesn't show up on any of the cameras anymore."</p>
<p>"Dammit!" Iris swore in his ear, expressing the same frustration.</p>
<p>Barry pondered for an instant, while the women kept talking. Without paying attention to what they were saying, he suddenly interrupted them. "I got an idea."</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" Iris asked, curious.</p>
<p>"I'm calling your phone."</p>
<p>Both women paused, trying to follow his thoughts. It was Felicity's turn to speak up what they both wondered. "How do you know she'll answer?"</p>
<p>"She'd want to gloat, she's a thief after all!" Barry explained his thought while grabbing his phone and speed-dialling Iris' phone. "And she wouldn't have taken your phone if she wasn't expecting us to call."</p>
<p>Barry's heart rate picked up its pace while he waited for the thief to answer. After 4 ringtones, a woman's voice finally picked up.</p>
<p>"Hello?"</p>
<p>Barry stopped breathing at the first sound of her voice. There was something oddly familiar in this simple word, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.</p>
<p>He cleared his throat and used his most stern voice. "Who is this?"</p>
<p>The woman seemed to think carefully about her next words. "Well if you want to play it <em>that way</em>, at least buy me dinner first."</p>
<p>And the odd familiarity of her voice came rushing back to him, like a punch in the face. Barry's heart felt like it was stumbling down stairs in his chest. He <em>knew</em> that voice. He couldn't believe this was happening.</p>
<p>Meeting her once was luck. Crossing her path a second time was coincidence. Hearing her voice a third time must be fate.</p>
<p>"It's you…" He breathed out.</p>
<p>A few seconds passed by before she answered.</p>
<p>"<em>Oh</em>…" She whispered back, and he could've sworn he'd heard her catch her breath. She had recognised him too. And she hadn't expected that turn of events either. There was a short pause before she continued in a controlled voice, but with an added touch of sweetness to it. "Well I would have done the pickpocketing myself if I had known this was your phone, <em>Bartholomew</em>!"</p>
<p>The right side of Barry's mouth curled up into a faint smile. "That's not my phone. Your guy stole my partner's."</p>
<p>"Oh well, tomayto, tomahto." She retorted instantly and he was sure she was shrugging her shoulders.</p>
<p>But he couldn't know for sure because he couldn't see her. And he really <em>really</em> wanted to see her again. "Where are you? Why did you steal my partner's phone?" He walked through the room, trying to find her but to no avail.</p>
<p>She chuckled lightly. "Well where's the fun if I tell you?"</p>
<p>Barry groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. It was definitely her, he recognised her teasing voice and witty comebacks. He wracked his brain, trying to find a way to convince her to tell him where she was. But before he could find any, she gave in.</p>
<p>"Ok fine, meet me at Jitters in 5 minutes."</p>
<p>And before he could agree, she had hung up.</p>
<p>And just then did he let his breath escape. He felt a tension in his shoulders – he hadn't realised was even there – disappear. He looked at his fingers clutching his phone and saw them shaking. What was happening to him?</p>
<p>"Hum, Barry? What was that?"</p>
<p>Barry jumped in surprise at Felicity's voice. He shook his head and pocketed his phone. He had to keep moving if he didn't want to miss his meeting with her. "Iris, Felicity, abort the mission."</p>
<p>"Wait what? You're serious?" Iris whispered angrily.</p>
<p>"Yes. We don't have a security pass nor your phone." He quickly explained, already making his way out of the room.</p>
<p>"But-" Iris started.</p>
<p>"No but." Barry stopped her as he reached the museum's exit. "We'll debrief tonight and we'll figure something out. I have something to take care of and I'm shutting off my comms. Call me if something urgent comes up."</p>
<p>"Barry wait-"</p>
<p>Barry fished the earpiece out of his ear as Felicity tried to reason him, turned it off and put it in his pocket. The microphone in his sleeve suffered the same fate.</p>
<p>Once outside, he jogged across the street with an arm stretched to the side to make his presence known by the car drivers. One honked at his dangerous behaviour but he waved it away. He didn't care about jaywalking right now, he just wanted to be sure he wouldn't miss her. Or he just wanted to see her at soon as possible. Whatever the reason, he didn't care.</p>
<p>He didn't stop his jog until a couple of minutes later when he reached Jitters. The little coffee shop stood at the foot of a tall corner building. Barry stopped across the street to catch his breath and examine the building quickly. From where he stood, he could spot a few people inside Jitters, but not his mystery thief.</p>
<p>He rolled back his head to get rid of his small crick in his neck and shook his shoulders and arms. This was it. He had waited for this moment for the past 4 months.</p>
<p>This time, he waited for the green light to cross the street. Carefully, he made his way to the front door and entered the coffee shop. He took a swift look at the place before he caught a glint of brown hair. She was sitting with her back to him, looking up at a mirror hanging on the opposite wall. From where she was sitting, she could perfectly keep an eye on the front door through the mirror.</p>
<p>Keep an eye on the front door and anyone walking through it.</p>
<p>In the mirror's reflection, he caught her eyes and she winked. His heart skipped a beat and a small smile crept up his lips as he slowly made his way towards her. But as he approached her, someone calling out his name stopped him dead in his tracks.</p>
<p>"Latte for Bartholomew? Is there a Bartholomew here?"</p>
<p>Barry frowned and turned towards the counter where a barista was waiting with a coffee cup. Barry glanced back at the mirror, but she was no longer looking up. He shook his head in amusement.</p>
<p>Walking up to the counter, Barry cleared his throat. "That's me, thanks."</p>
<p>He grabbed the to-go cup and walked back to where she was sitting. When he was close enough to see the smile hovering on her lips, he spoke up quietly. "We have to stop meeting like this."</p>
<p>She looked up and chuckled. "It seems that Central City hasn't enough rich people, or we wouldn't keep stealing the same targets."</p>
<p>He shrugged and went to sit opposite from her. "You know you could have blown my cover with that little coffee stunt. Giving up my name to the barista, tsk tsk tsk."</p>
<p>"Meh, you would have found a way out of it, I'm sure." She replied, mirth filling her eyes.</p>
<p>She held up her coffee cup to her lips to take a sip, and he silently followed her movement with his eyes. She paused and his eyes flew up to hers, a slight blush creeping up his neck at being caught staring at her lips.</p>
<p>He cleared his throat and took a sip of his own coffee. She raised a delicate eyebrow and smiled at him, amused by his reaction more than vexed.</p>
<p>When they put their cups back on the table, she reached into her pocket and slid a phone across the table to him.</p>
<p>"Here is your partner's phone." She explained in a low voice. "You should tell her to take better care of her things."</p>
<p>Barry took the phone and immediately put it in his own pocket. "Your guy must be very good, because she's usually the best at this." He noted. "It's a first for her, and she's quite pissed off by the way."</p>
<p>"Eddie is going to be thrilled to hear that." She said, absent-mindedly playing with the lid of her coffee cup.</p>
<p>Barry cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows. "So you're willing to give up everyone's name except for yours, huh?"</p>
<p>Her eyes met his and he swore he saw them twinkle. "I'm fond of keeping the mystery alive." She replied without breaking eye contact.</p>
<p>Oh he had missed this easy banter. They had talked only twice in their lives, yet he felt like he knew her perfectly and that this little coffee date was something recurring in their relationship. Except it wasn't. The banter seemed familiar, but it was quite new to them. He wondered if she felt the same connection between them, if she had thought about him at all in the past 4 months.</p>
<p>Would she even want to see him again after this meeting? She hadn't called him the first time around, after all. Maybe he was imagining things and she had no interest in him, other than playing around with his crew.</p>
<p>Maybe he should just ask her.</p>
<p>He shook his head.</p>
<p>She was a mystery and he was definitely attracted to her and her femme fatale persona. He couldn't just ask her if she liked him. He had to keep the conversation going in another direction, before he said something stupid like ask her out or something.</p>
<p>"Where's the security badge." He inquired.</p>
<p>She puckered her lips and wiggled her right index in a 'no' sign over her cup. "Oh no, that one I keep."</p>
<p>"We were there first!" Barry protested in a low but firm voice, hunching forward over the table, his brows knitted in a frown.</p>
<p>Her own eyebrows hopped up on her forehead. "How do you know that? How do you know we didn't use your team to get it?" She pointed out. "Eddie knew it'd be easier to take it off your partner rather than the head of security."</p>
<p>Barry leaned back in his chair, his hands gathered in his lap. "He's quite a confident guy."</p>
<p>She shrugged. "Well he also knew your partner would be more focused on getting away than making sure the badge stays in her pocket. So don't give him more credit than he deserves."</p>
<p>He chuckled at that. "That doesn't change the fact that we got it first and we want it back."</p>
<p>She slowly rested her left elbow on the table with her hand up, leaned forward and laid her chin on her hand. "I would love to give it back to you, but I won't." She whispered, locking her eyes with his.</p>
<p>Barry frowned. "And why is that?"</p>
<p>"Well I want to steal that place. Can't do it if I give you the badge, silly." She shrugged again, her lips forming a small pout.</p>
<p>A new idea suddenly appeared in Barry's mind. "We could go together, split the heist." He suggested.</p>
<p>She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "You're cute, you know that?" She whispered playfully. She glanced at her watch and continued. "Now I have 10 minutes left before I have to go back to my crew. Are you really going to waste that time arguing about that damn badge, or are you actually going to use it to flirt with me, <em>Bartholomew</em>."</p>
<p>Barry silently gasped. He was at a loss for words. This woman perfectly knew how to surprise him. She didn't seem phased at all that they were working on the same museum heist. She didn't seem surprised that they paths kept crossing each other. And she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She was real trouble.</p>
<p>And if a few minutes earlier he had been wondering about her interest in him, his doubts were now practically all gone. She felt it. They were equals in this situation. And it was time to turn the tables around, to get back the advantage in this little relationship of theirs.</p>
<p>He cocked his head to the side. "Who says I wasn't already flirting?"</p>
<p>"Well you did a better job at Mr Thawne's charity party." She noted with a smile.</p>
<p>"It's all about the settings. Very few women can resist Barry in a suit and tie." He puffed out his chest and wriggled his eyebrows. But she instantly saw that he wasn't being serious and she let a small laugh escape.</p>
<p>"I admit you looked really good."</p>
<p>He felt a faint blush creep up his neck. "Thanks." He murmured, his eyes attaching themselves to hers. "I'll say it again, but I'm convinced we'd make a great team working together."</p>
<p>She was about to answer, when a <em>ding</em> indicated she had received a text. She frowned and fished her phone out of her pocket to check her message.</p>
<p>While she seemed occupied otherwise, Barry glanced at the to-go cup her right hand had just left. He could see the start of a name being written on it with a black marker. Had she given her real name to the barista? Why wouldn't she have? Was she <em>that</em> paranoid to keep her real identity secret?</p>
<p>Sensing the opportunity to learn her real name, Barry took advantage of her being distracted, to move slightly. He carefully tipped his head to the right, while she kept reading the text she had just received. But, as he was about to see more than the first letter, she unconsciously – or was it consciously? – rose her right hand back to the cup and swept her thumb over the name. And her hand stayed there, hiding the rest of her name.</p>
<p>He cursed under his breath. There were so many names starting with a C. Catherine. Caroline. Cindy. Cecile…</p>
<p>He jerked his head back up as he saw her put her phone back down.</p>
<p>A crease was still present between her brow and he itched to reach out to soothe it away. But he restrained himself and took a sip of coffee.</p>
<p>The 10 minutes she had given him were quickly passing by and he could feel the moment she would disappear on him again approach. But he refused to be left behind again. He wanted to be in charge of how this meeting would end. He wanted to be the one to keep her wanting more.</p>
<p>So he had to leave before her.</p>
<p>"Listen, you may have a few more minutes, but I don't." Barry explained. "Here is my phone number again. Use it this time around."</p>
<p>She raised a delicate eyebrow as he produced a card and slid it across the table to her. "And why would I do that?" She asked.</p>
<p>Barry leaned forward, his elbows pressing against the tabletop, bringing him immensely closer to her than before. He watched as her eyes flitted down to his lips before fixing themselves back on his. That pleased him immensely.</p>
<p>"Because you are as intrigued by this connection between us as I am. And you want to see where this can go. What we can achieve together. I know it. You know it. Hell, the barista over there probably knows it too." He nodded towards the counter without looking at it. "I'm pretty sure he has a crush on you by the way."</p>
<p>She glanced back at the counter where she met the young barista's eyes. He turned bright red and scurried through the backdoor to hide. She rolled her eyes as she looked back at Barry. "Having fun yet?"</p>
<p>"Greatly, yes." He chuckled before standing up. "Now I really have to go. Until next time, ma'am, whenever that is."</p>
<p>He could see she didn't like the turn of events. She hadn't planned on him turning the tables on her. He didn't like having to leave already either. But this was a game. He couldn't be the one losing every time.</p>
<p>Before she could say anything else, he tipped his baseball cap as if it were a top hat, and made his way towards the exit. But then, as he reached the door, an idea crossed his mind. A smile stretched his lips.</p>
<p>He slowly walked back to where she was still sitting, facing away from him, one hand on her lap, the other near her coffee cup. As he reached her, he saw her perk up, noticing his presence behind her without turning around. He carefully put both of his hands on her shoulders and he felt her tense up.</p>
<p>Her hand that had been on the table a few seconds ago, was now near her hip, and he didn't doubt she had some sort of weapon in reach, and that she wouldn't hesitate to use it against him if it came to it. But he wasn't planning on hurting her. No, he just wanted to distract her long enough for him to glance at her empty coffee cup.</p>
<p>Their eyes met in the mirror still hanging on the wall in front of them.</p>
<p>Very slowly, he bowed forward and grazed his lips next to her left ear. There, he waited a beat before whispering against her skin. "I really do hope you'll call me this time, <em>Caitlin</em>."</p>
<p>She let a small gasp escape her lips and felt her shiver against his touch.</p>
<p>
  <em>Bingo!</em>
</p>
<p>He winked at her and left Jitters without another single word.</p>
<p>Barry had rarely been as proud of himself as he was now.</p>
<p>He had just crossed the street when his phone rang. Taking it out of his pocket, he glanced at the unknown number before answering.</p>
<p>"Hello?"</p>
<p>"Fine, we can share the heist."</p>
<p>Barry whirled around on his heels to look over the street at the coffee shop he had just left. Caitlin was standing there, leaning against a street sign pole, one hand on her hip, the other holding her phone to her ear.</p>
<p>"Well I'm glad you changed your mind, <em>Caitlin</em>." Barry answered, emphasising on her name proudly. A huge smile stretched his features when he saw her roll her eyes from across the street.</p>
<p>"On one condition, <em>Barry</em>. I have my eye on one particular piece. You can have the rest."</p>
<p>"Yes ma'am."</p>
<p>"I'll call you later with the details."</p>
<p>"Great. Can't wait."</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh this is going to be fun. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Soooo, what did you think? Let me know! Reviews keep me inspired :D The next updates will probably take more time though...</p>
<p>Also, stay safe out there !</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Together, we Con</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The elevator ride to the 5th floor only took a few seconds. Caitlin stepped into the corridor and made her way to the hotel room n°505. She knocked curtly on the door and soon Cisco opened the door wide.</p>
<p>Without even checking if she was coming into the room, Cisco scurried back to the desk where his computer was. "Eddie is giving the security badge back to the guard." He quickly threw over his shoulder at her.</p>
<p>Quietly, she entered the room and closed the door behind her. She approached Cisco and could see on his computer screen the camera footage of the museum. On it, she observed as Eddie sneaked behind the chief of security and dropped the badge. Before it even hit the ground, Eddie was gone.</p>
<p>The clatter of the badge falling to the ground caught the guard's attention and he turned around him to see what had fallen. Seeing the badge on the ground, he quickly grabbed it and put it back on his belt, making sure nobody had seen he had lost his badge for a second. Or so he thought.</p>
<p>Caitlin smiled proudly. Eddie had done a great job taking the badge and giving it back without anyone noticing. Well anyone except Barry and his crew, since he had stolen it from them. But it was hard to fool professional thieves anyway.</p>
<p>She silently patted Cisco's shoulder for the job well done and went to sit on the bed to take her shoes off. Those heeled boots were killing her feet.</p>
<p>"I scanned the badge and copied the code. We'll be able to get in and out of the museum whenever we want." Cisco informed her, turning around in his chair to face her. "They didn't even notice it was gone so they won't block that particular code."</p>
<p>"Great job guys." Caitlin smiled. "Eddie, meet us back here."</p>
<p>He knew where she meant. They had booked a hotel room just for a couple of days to be closer to the museum. It was easier that way to keep the communication line clear. Cisco would sleep there just to make sure they didn't raise suspicions by leaving the room empty during the night.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, a short knock on the door resonated in the hotel room. Cisco went to the door and came back with Eddie in tow.</p>
<p>"So at what time are we going in tonight?" Eddie asked, as he shrugged off his jacket and Cisco went back to his desk chair.</p>
<p>Still sitting on the bed, Caitlin was scrolling through her phone. Without looking up, she answered, "No, we're not doing it tonight."</p>
<p>Cisco frowned. "Why not? I thought that was the plan. Everything's ready."</p>
<p>Caitlin seemed to think for a moment and the two men knew not to disturb her when her brilliant mind was working. She looked up and absentmindedly continued to play with her phone in her hand.</p>
<p>She slightly bit her lower lip before speaking again. "No, tonight we've got something else planned."</p>
<p>Seeing as she wasn't elaborating her thought, Eddie asked, "And what <em>are</em> we doing tonight?"</p>
<p>"Tonight, we're meeting Barry's crew. We're sharing the museum heist."</p>
<p>Cisco gaped at her. "I'm sorry, what?"</p>
<p>"Wh-… who the hell is Barry?" Eddie asked in disbelief, his voice slightly deeper than usual.</p>
<p>"Did you say sharing?"</p>
<p>"What crew?"</p>
<p>Caitlin rolled her eyes as both men kept asking more questions, voices being raised one after the other. She waited a couple more queries before stopping them. "Guys, will you let me speak?"</p>
<p>Both men shut their mouths and Cisco raised his hands in surrender. Caitlin paused for a few seconds with one eyebrow raised and her arms crossed on her chest, making sure they weren't about to interrupt her again.</p>
<p>She nodded towards Eddie and explained, "The thief you stole the badge from? I promised her partner part of the heist."</p>
<p>"You did?" Eddie asked with a small frown on his face.</p>
<p>"Well that's new!" Cisco bounced on Eddie's surprise with his own.</p>
<p>"You sure about that?"</p>
<p>"Not that we don't trust you…"</p>
<p>"But we're just surprised."</p>
<p>"We've never done this before…"</p>
<p><em>Here we go again,</em> Caitlin thought. These two were unbelievable. If she didn't stop them, they could go back and forth like that for hours – she'd already seen it, and it could be exhausting. But she couldn't hold it against them. They were right, this was something they had never done before. The only time they'd rescheduled a job was when the mission was compromised and they'd get caught if they went through with it.</p>
<p>And it wasn't the case here.</p>
<p>She raised her arms and waved them around to catch their attention and stop their crazy ramblings. "Guys, relax, I'm in control of the situation. I promised him."</p>
<p>Both men looked at her with round eyes before finally relaxing and nodding at her. They trusted her to know what she was doing.</p>
<p>"Good! Now, I'm going to call him to set up a meeting tonight." Caitlin informed them as she stood up and left the room.</p>
<p>Once in the corridor, she realised she hadn't put her shoes back on. She simply shrugged to herself and looked down at her phone. This would be a quick call anyway, no need to go back in to put shoes on. Caitlin's finger hovered over Barry's number. Was she really doing this? Was she really going to call him to work on this heist together?</p>
<p>Eddie and Cisco were right; they had never done <em>this</em> before.</p>
<p>She wasn't the trusting kind. For a long time, she had preferred to work alone, so she could control absolutely everything. Because you could never trust someone more than you trusted yourself, right? At least that's what she had thought for a long time.</p>
<p>She had known Cisco for about 3 years and she considered him as her best friend, as far as friends could be made in a con artist's way of life. She trusted him with her life. Yet she couldn't help wanting to keep control of every situations they were in. Same went with Eddie. He had joined them a couple of years later and their team worked great together. But both men knew to let Caitlin in charge. Or she would bail out.</p>
<p>And they needed her.</p>
<p>She knew how they worked, she knew their strengths and weaknesses. She would never be a 100% serene, completely carefree and herself, she'll always have her guard up. But she trusted them enough to work with them.</p>
<p>Letting Barry and his crew join them was completely out of her comfort zone. She didn't know them. She didn't trust them. She had no idea how they worked or if they were even good.</p>
<p>
  <em>We've never done this before…</em>
</p>
<p>But there was something about Barry. She was intrigued, to say the least. She felt like she already knew him. Better even, she felt like he <em>knew</em> her. And that alone was a thought disturbing enough for her to consider bailing out of her promise. But she wouldn't.</p>
<p>Taking a deep breath, she finally pressed on the <em>Call</em> button and lifted the phone to her ear. Maybe he wouldn't even pick up and she wouldn't have to feel guilty about bailing out. Maybe he had changed his mind and would ignore her. Maybe he…</p>
<p>"Hello, stranger." He answered with a husky voice and she felt a shudder run down her spine.</p>
<p>This was ridiculous. He was just a man. She had to get back control over herself. She had to put her walls back up or she would regret this.</p>
<p>Caitlin cleared her throat and replied in a stern voice. "As promised, I'm calling to set up the details for our little museum escapade. We should meet tonight."</p>
<p>She heard him chortle. "Going right to the serious stuff I see?"</p>
<p>"I take my job very seriously." She bit back and almost instantly regretted her aggressiveness as she heard him sober up.</p>
<p>"Oh, I don't doubt that, Caitlin." Even though he wasn't laughing anymore, there was still a touch of teasing in his voice. "I just thought we'd use this opportunity to get to know each other more."</p>
<p>"We don't have time for this." Caitlin huffed in slight annoyance. "Either you're in and we set up a meet, or you're out and this burner phone is going to the trash."</p>
<p>"Ok fine. Where do you want to meet?" Barry's voice was still joyful even though she knew she was acting rudely. Why was he like that? She wasn't giving him any reasons to stay kind to her.</p>
<p>"I want to see your base of operations."</p>
<p>"My what now? My base of operations?" Barry repeated, his voice going into high notes from surprise.</p>
<p>"Yes, I want to see how you guys work." She explained, never breaking from her serious tone, even though his high pitch did pull at her lips. A smile was threatening to appear.</p>
<p>"Huh, okay. Do you have something to write?"</p>
<p>"Don't worry about it, I'll remember."</p>
<p>After getting the address from Barry, she rapidly said her goodbyes and hung up. A breath escaped her lips as she leaned back against the corridor wall. He had this ability to unsettle her, it was unnerving. She had been cold, distant and even a bit rude. And he had just continued to be nice and pleasant. She would even bet he hadn't stopped smiling during the whole conversation. How was he even real?</p>
<p>Caitlin shook her head again and turned her attention back to her phone. Opening her GPS app, she typed in the address he had given her, before she would forget it. Caitlin frowned as she watched her app find the location she had been looking for.</p>
<p>What the… Had he just given her the address to a nightclub?</p>
<hr/>
<p>The Verdant was an isolated nightclub. The building seemed to be an old warehouse and the name of the club was written on top of it in green neon lights. It was almost nightfall and people were already gathering at the entrance.</p>
<p>Caitlin glanced behind her to check if Eddie and Cisco were still following her. They were standing closer to her now that they had reached their destination and she was glad they were here with her.</p>
<p>Barry hadn't given her any further instructions to find him. She had no idea how to find him now that she was at the nightclub. And for her ego's sake, she refused to call him to ask for directions. Which was ridiculous. But she didn't want to ask for help.</p>
<p>"Do we have to stand in line?" Cisco asked.</p>
<p>Eddie groaned as he watched the line getting longer and longer by the minute. "Oh please no."</p>
<p>Caitlin chuckled and made her way towards the VIP entrance where a gruff-looking bouncer was standing tall, both arms crossed on his chest. She cleared her throat to catch his attention but he didn't move an each. "Excuse-me? I'm looking for a lanky man going by the name Barry. Could you-"</p>
<p>Barry's head popped up above the bouncer's shoulder with a frown on his face. "Lanky? Really? I prefer being called tall and handsome."</p>
<p>She was pretty sure the bouncer was taller than Barry and that the young man was actually standing on his tiptoes behind the bouncer to look over his shoulder. She smiled and shrugged in fake disinterest at his comment.</p>
<p>Barry pouted and came down from his tiptoes, his face disappearing behind the bouncer. A moment later, Barry had skirted around the tall man that still hadn't moved.</p>
<p>"Welcome to The Verdant, my friends!" Barry greeted them with arms wide open. After briefly introducing himself to Eddie and Cisco, Barry asked them to follow him as he made his way towards the back of the building.</p>
<p>In silence, they reached a small backdoor, unguarded and hidden from the eyes of any bystander.</p>
<p>As Barry pulled out a key from his pocket, Caitlin finally spoke up. "What is this place?"</p>
<p>He inserted the key into the door lock and turned around to look at his guests. "Oh I know the nightclub owner. He lets me use his basement, which is pretty cool."</p>
<p>Caitlin raised an eyebrow at his explanation. "The basement, huh?"</p>
<p>Barry frowned. "Why do you say it like it's a bad thing? Where's <em>your</em> secret lair?"</p>
<p>"Oh you haven't earned the right to know that yet. All I can say is that it's above ground." She replied in an amused tone.</p>
<p>He pointed a finger at her. "I'll cherish the fact that you used the word 'yet' in that sentence. Meaning that I'll see it one day."</p>
<p>"If you play your cards right." She teased back, her teeth nipping at her lower lip and her delicate eyebrow still raised to taunt him.</p>
<p>A huge smile stretched Barry lips and she felt her heart flutter slightly at the sight. Flirting was a tool she had learned as a teenager, when she realised it was easier to con people who were attracted to you. They paid less attention to the details and more to the flirting. She flirted to reach a goal. She didn't flirt for pleasure.</p>
<p>Except flirting with Barry was way too much fun and it felt really natural. Was that what it felt like to be honest-to-God attracted to someone?</p>
<p>Finally, Barry tore his attention away from Caitlin and turned the key in the lock to open the door. They entered into a dim-lit room where they could spot various training equipment and computers. In one corner they could even see what looked like a sports car and a motorcycle.</p>
<p>"Dude, you've got a bat-cave. Awesome!" Cisco exclaimed.</p>
<p>Caitlin glanced at an excited Cisco, and Barry smiled proudly. "I admit, it is pretty neat."</p>
<p>As they all continued towards the centre of the room where the computers were, Caitlin noticed a blond woman with square glasses quickly typing on the keyboard. Beside her was sitting black woman with her hair pulled up into a bun. Caitlin recognised the latter from the museum earlier today. She was the one Eddie had stolen the phone and security badge from.</p>
<p>Both women looked up as they heard them approach.</p>
<p>"This is Iris, thief extraordinaire and amazing forger." Barry introduced the black woman with a hand gesture before pointing at the blond woman. "And this is Felicity, best hacker in the world."</p>
<p>Caitlin heard Cisco groan behind her and she had to smile. She was sure this would turn into a hacking contest at some point.</p>
<p>But Cisco's groan quickly turned into an excited gasp as he recognised all the equipment Felicity had around her. He ran towards the first laptop and then jumped between the different computers, servers, screens and other technology stuff Caitlin didn't know about. All the while, a series of technical terms were falling from his lips as he admired every piece of technology. He looked like a kid on Christmas Day.</p>
<p>Felicity, happy to see someone appreciate her computer set-up, followed Cisco around to drop a few comments here and there, reacting to Cisco's gibberish.</p>
<p>Next to them, Caitlin observed as Eddie offered his hand to Iris, to introduce himself and apologise for stealing her phone. He said something in the line of "For the greater good", but Caitlin didn't follow the exchange more than that.</p>
<p>She turned her attention back to Barry who was still standing next to her.</p>
<p>"You're lucky I'm not the jealous kind." Caitlin said with a wink. "Teaming up with two beautiful women… Any girl would be threatened by that."</p>
<p>He looked her straight in the eyes and chuckled. "Well you're the one to talk." He answered back with a nod towards her male crime partners.</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Ok, let's talk business!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>"We're in."</p>
<p>Silence was surrounding both of them and Caitlin's whisper had been the only thing to break it. It was 3 am and the museum almost looked like a haunted house. Barry had never seen it so empty and dark. It was eerie yet magnificent. They both felt like they were intruding during the artworks' resting time.</p>
<p>They had used the security badge's replica Cisco had made to get into the museum undetected. A few meters further, they reached the Van Gogh gallery. They stopped at the door and waited for further instructions from their teams back in the Verdant's underground. They had decided that Felicity and Cisco would monitor their activity from the nightclub while Eddie and Iris were patrolling around the museum to make sure they wouldn't have any unwanted visitors. That way, each team had their own member on each post and the trust issue would be erased. Well almost. But it seemed like the best way to go considering the little timeframe they had had to plan this.</p>
<p>As expected, Cisco spoke up in their earpieces. "Perfect. So the badge let's you go through the doors, but if you touch anything, the alarms go off."</p>
<p>"Not anymore." Felicity interrupted him proudly. "I disabled the motion detectors."</p>
<p>Barry and Caitlin both heard the clatter of fingers running on a keyboard and soon Cisco shouted back. "I got the cameras."</p>
<p>"And I got the lasers." Felicity said.</p>
<p>Cisco groaned. "I got the temperature detectors."</p>
<p>"Cisco, please stop!" Caitlin interrupted their little contest with a stern voice. "It's our asses on the line, so could you guys just tell us when we're good to go?"</p>
<p>A silence followed her little reprimand. Caitlin and Barry exchanged a look and Barry finally cleared his throat. "Felicity? Cisco?"</p>
<p>"You guys are good to go. Just don't touch any unnecessary things." Felicity replied in a soft voice, almost as if she didn't want to upset Caitlin again.</p>
<p>Both thieves nodded and Caitlin scanned the badge. When the red LED turned green, Barry pushed the door and they entered into the gallery.</p>
<p>Van Gogh's art was breathtaking in the daylight, but it was simply out of this world during the night. Barry and Caitlin walked from painting to painting, using only small flashlights to admire them. The silence between them was necessary considering the circumstances, but it didn't feel awkward, it was comfortable. As if they were simply strolling through a museum together, sharing their love for art, no complications in sight.</p>
<p>They understood each other without a single word.</p>
<p>Caitlin watched as Barry stopped in front of one painting in particular. She instantly recognised it as <em>The Starry Night</em>, one of Van Gogh's most popular work.</p>
<p>"Your favourite?" she asked him in a soft voice as she went to stand beside him.</p>
<p>"It was my parent's favourite." He whispered after a beat.</p>
<p>She silently nodded, not wanting to push further into the conversation. She could feel that there was more to the story but it was probably too much of a sore subject for her to get into.</p>
<p>She didn't think connecting with him on a deeper level would be a good idea. She was already scared of how great they understood each other. She didn't need to know more about his inner struggles. It wasn't part of the plan. She was supposed to get this job done and get the hell away from him. Because he already made her feel vulnerable even though she barely knew him.</p>
<p>The last time she had felt this way was when her father had died from cancer. And she had promised herself never to feel as vulnerable again. She had loved her father and life had taken him away from her. A few years later, she had made an exception and had loved a man named Ronnie. He had died on the job. And from this moment on, she had considered it a weakness to get attached to someone. Because the day this person was gone, you could lose everything. And how could she trust someone else to stay with her forever? It wasn't something she could control.</p>
<p>"Penny for your thoughts?"</p>
<p>Caitlin wrenched her eyes away from the painting to look back at Barry. He was staring back at her with a worried frown and she realised they had been standing there for a while without saying anything. Had he been staring at her the whole time? Had her facial expressions betrayed her inner thoughts?</p>
<p>She shook her head and shrugged. "It's nothing."</p>
<p>"Doesn't look like nothing. You know you can tell me anything." His voice was so soft and reassuring that she felt the need to cuddle into it. Was that even a thing, to cuddle into someone's voice?</p>
<p>She shrugged again. "Hum maybe, but I have a hard time trusting new people. So let's keep the heart-to-heart for another time."</p>
<p>"We saw each other three times now, we're almost best friend in thieves' lifestyle." Barry joked and she felt some of the tension disappear from her shoulders.</p>
<p>"I thought you preferred being called an artist?" She pointed out with a smirk.</p>
<p>"Touché." He admitted with a pout.</p>
<p>Caitlin gave him a small smile before turning her attention back towards the paintings surrounding them. It was time to get control back, to put her walls back up. He couldn't catch her like this again. She cleared her throat and dropped the smile. "Let's go back to work."</p>
<p>"Can I take this one?" Barry asked while pointing at <em>The Starry Night</em>.</p>
<p>"Sure, I'm taking the <em>Café Terrace at Night</em>. We can choose whatever else we want here. Cisco and Felicity made sure this gallery was alarm-proof."</p>
<p>She didn't wait for him to reply as she made her way the <em>Café Terrace at Night</em> painting. This one was for her personal collection. It was a masterpiece she had wanted for herself for years. The others they would take tonight would be sold on the black market and would set them for a few years.</p>
<p>But they had already lost enough time wandering around. They had to start taking the paintings off the walls now.</p>
<p>Carefully, she approached the painting while Barry did the same on his side. But she didn't pay attention to him; she was way too focused on her task.</p>
<p>Behind the painting was a small wire that was linked to an alarm Cisco had disabled. But just to be sure, he had instructed her to cut the wire before taking the painting down. She grabbed the wire cutter that was dangling for her tool belt and leaned against the wall, without really touching it.</p>
<p>Holding her breath as a precaution, she delicately put one hand under the painting to lift it away from the wall, while her other hand holding the wire cutter went behind it towards the alarm wire.</p>
<p>Her pulse was going 100 beats/min and she could feel adrenaline rushing though her vein. She loved that feeling of danger. Because she knew she was safe. Everything was accounted for. She trusted herself and her team. There were no reasons for this to go sideways.</p>
<p>Inch per inch, she approached the wire with her hand and it felt like it took her an eternity to reach it. She carefully opened the pliers around the wire and finally closed it when it was in place.</p>
<p>A short <em>click</em> informed her she had cut the wire as planned and the painting felt suddenly heavier on her hand placed under it. Swiftly, she put the wire-cutter back onto her belt and used her now free hand to hold the painting in place.</p>
<p>A gush of pride rushed through her as she admired her work. The only thing left to do was to take the painting out of the frame, and roll it into the cylindrical container hanging between her shoulders.</p>
<p>Caitlin held the painting in front of her to admire it. She knew exactly where it would go. There was a space in her office where it would fit perfectly.</p>
<p>On her right, she heard a little squeal of excitement. She turned her head and watched Barry in a similar position as her. He had managed to take <em>The Starry Night</em> off the wall and was admiring his work. She was sure that similar thoughts were running through his mind. This painting probably meant a whole lot to him.</p>
<p>She took the opportunity of him being engrossed with the painting to observe him. He had a huge smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling. He looked like a kid getting the present he had wished all year long. His face was worry-free and he looked beautiful. He looked so innocent, even with a stolen painting in his hands.</p>
<p>And then their eyes met across the room. Barry's smile got even wider than before and a similar smile turned Caitlin's lips upwards. She was sure this moment would forever be engraved in her memory. Her heart began beating faster again, but it felt different from the rush she had felt while taking that painting off the wall. It was exhilarating yet terrifying.</p>
<p>Yes, she had to get away from him as soon as this job was done. She couldn't put herself at risk like that, even though being near him felt amazing. She just couldn't go through the pain of losing someone again.</p>
<p>Oblivious to her inner struggles, Barry winked at her and her heart missed a beat.</p>
<p>Ok, maybe she could hang around for a couple more days? See where this thing could go? Without getting hurt? She could control a couple of days.</p>
<p>She could do this.</p>
<p>And then, the alarm went off.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Am I sorry for this little cliffhanger? No, not really :) Would I love to hear what you thought about this chapter and what happens next? Yes, absolutely :D</p>
<p>Also yes, I took the liberty of putting The Verdant in Central City and not Star City... I just needed someplace unusual for his base of operations ;)</p>
<p>Until next time and stay safe out there!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. You are Under Con</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi everyone ! I am really sorry this chapter took so long, especially when I ended the previous one with a cliffhanger... But I had a few busy weeks and then I broke my ankle, had to get surgery and then the pain was too much for me to focus on anything... Anyway, the pain is a little better now and since I'm stuck in bed most of the day, may as well write! So here is the new chapter, I hope you enjoy and sorry again if it took some time... I just have one advice for you guys: do not break your ankle, it hurts like hell :')</p>
<p>I still don't own anything :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So everything had gone perfectly as planned. They'd gotten into the museum at night, they'd gotten two paintings off the wall and then… Then all hell had broken loose.</p>
<p>A security alarm had gone off.</p>
<p>"What did you do?" Caitlin hissed in Barry's direction.</p>
<p>Eyes wide, Barry put the painting down and squealed, "Me? Why would it be me?"</p>
<p>"Well because it wasn't me!" Caitlin spit back.</p>
<p>This wasn't happening. In all her years of stealing and conning people, she had never been caught. Well except that one time Barry had seen her work, but that was different. When alarms went off, police was involved most of the time.</p>
<p>And she didn't need the police involved. She didn't need them running her fingerprints in the system and opening a file on her. She didn't need a record. It would make the rest of her jobs more complicated – if she ever got out of their custody, that was.</p>
<p>"Well it wasn't me either." Barry protested, closing the distance between them in a few long strides.</p>
<p>She let the painting slide to the ground and turned towards him, poking his chest with her index finger. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."</p>
<p>His face twitched as if she'd just hit him in the face. "Well too late now, huh?" He growled, clearly pissed she thought it was his fault.</p>
<p>But she couldn't help it. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong and she trusted Cisco to turn the alarms off, all of them. Something wasn't right.</p>
<p>"Guys! You need to get out of there!" Felicity shouted in their ears.</p>
<p>"How much time do we have before the police arrives?" Barry asked, turning around to avoid Caitlin's eyes.</p>
<p>"According to the museum's security records, they have a 5-minutes response time." Cisco answered.</p>
<p>"Good, that leaves us enough time to-"</p>
<p>Barry's sentence was cut off by the sound of metal grating against rails. Both of them twirled around to watch the gallery's entrance being shut down by a metal grid. They were quickly being caged in by the security system. Something both hackers probably hadn't taken care of.</p>
<p>Caitlin had barely the time to process what was happening to them, before she felt Barry grab her hand and pull her behind her as he rushed to the door. They were going fast, but not fast enough. She could already see them being caged in with no way out.</p>
<p>But Barry had something else in mind.</p>
<p>With force she didn't know he had, Barry tugged on her arm so hard and swept her forward, so that she flew in front of him, feet first. Under the momentum, she fell on her side, lost her grip on Barry's hand and slid all the way to the other side of the door as the grid still made its way down.</p>
<p>As soon as she stopped sliding on the floor, she jumped on her feet and watched as Barry arrived at the door but it was too late. The grid was all the way down, him on one side, her on the other. With wide eyes, she realised he had just thrown her out of the room Indiana Jones' style.</p>
<p>She ran back to the grid and tried to shake it open, but it didn't budge an inch. She winced at the movement. Her left thigh was burning and her arm and shoulder were hurting. If Barry hadn't just sacrificed his freedom for hers, she would've complained about the pain. But he had. He was stuck on the other side of the grid and she was slowly realising she couldn't get him out. Not with the little time they had left.</p>
<p>With both hands gripping at the grid, Caitlin looked up at Barry's eyes and saw he had reached the same conclusion.</p>
<p>Despite the situation, a soft smile stretched his lips as he softly spoke. "You have to go before the cops arrive."</p>
<p>She shook her head in denial. "There has to be a way to open this thing… Cisco, Felicity, do you have any control over this grid?"</p>
<p>In their earpieces, they heard both hackers desperately typing on their computers to find a way out of this, but neither had an answer to her question.</p>
<p>"Caitlin, let it go." Barry sighed.</p>
<p>But she wasn't listening to him. She was frantically looking around for some lever, button, keypad – anything really – that could open the grid. "Come on there has to-"</p>
<p>Barry stopped her short. "Cait! Go!"</p>
<p>She jerked her head back towards him and gaped. "What? No! I can't leave you here!"</p>
<p>"You have to!" Barry replied softly, and she wondered how he could act so calm in a moment like this one. "I know you don't trust me, but I trust you! I know you'll get me out. You'll find a way."</p>
<p>Where did this faith in her come from? A few minutes ago she had accused him of screwing up, and now he was putting his freedom in her hands. She didn't trust anyone as much as he seemed to trust her. Who was he? What was his story? She had never met a thief like him.</p>
<p>She shook her head in disbelief. "How can you say that? We barely know each other."</p>
<p>"I just know." He simply shrugged, a small smile still present on his lips. "Now go before you get caught too."</p>
<p>"Barry…" She croaked.</p>
<p>"Please."</p>
<p>Caitlin's eyes seemed to tear up as he begged her to leave, but before emotions could get the best of her, she swiped her hand on her eyes and sobered up. She had to get a grip on herself in order to find a way to get him out of this. Yes, she had never met anyone like him. This thing between them may be new, but it was special, she could feel it. And she wasn't ready to let him go yet.</p>
<p>Delicately, Caitlin wrapped her right hand over Barry's left one that was gripping the grid. She swiped her thumb over his knuckles and simply whispered, "Hang in there, Barry, I'll come back for you."</p>
<p>And with those last words, Caitlin turned around and fled the scene without looking back, too afraid to see the look on his face.</p>
<p>Outside, she heard the police sirens approaching. But Iris and Eddie were waiting for her in a getaway car. When the cops arrived, they were long gone.</p>
<p>And Barry was still trapped.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Cisco, Felicity, tell me something!" Caitlin shouted as soon as she entered The Verdant's underground and joined the two hackers. Eddie and Iris were close behind her.</p>
<p>"They have Barry." Cisco answered instantly, completely focused on the computer screen in front of him.</p>
<p>Caitlin rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Something I don't know, Cisco…"</p>
<p>"Sorry, my bad." Cisco apologised while making a face. "They just arrived at the precinct. Barry will be processed within the hour."</p>
<p>The space between Caitlin's eyes crinkled as she bit on her lower lip. If the circumstances had been different, Cisco would've teased her about her making her <em>let's-hatch-a-great-plan</em> face. But it wasn't the moment to joke.</p>
<p>Without letting go of the tension between her eyebrows, she spoke again. "Well do something to stop that, it'll buy us some time. We need to get him out before he gets processed. If they take his prints, his career as a thief – or anything else really – is most likely over."</p>
<p>"I'm on it!" Felicity, who had been pretty much silent until then, instantly went to work on her keyboard.</p>
<p>Caitlin nodded her thanks towards Felicity before turning towards Cisco with a deep frown. She had no idea how she could get Barry out of this mess. You couldn't just break someone out of a precinct, that place was teeming with cops.</p>
<p>"Did you see how Barry just threw you across the room with the mere strength of his body?" Cisco interrupted her train of thoughts with an excited voice. "I mean I want that guy on my team for the next bowling tournament for sure! That was so cool!" He stopped short as Caitlin glared at him, not in the mood to rejoice in their current predicament. "… I mean awful… Because he got stuck behind and all… but man, what a dude!"</p>
<p>Caitlin was <em>this</em> close to raging out but a hand on her shoulder stopped her before she could get angry. "We could go undercover into the precinct." Eddie suggested in a calm voice. He was often the buffer between Cisco's goofy side and Caitlin's cold persona in tense moments.</p>
<p>Caitlin breathed out and nodded in agreement. "Yes but how? No way they won't check our identity in a police precinct."</p>
<p>A small <em>ping</em> coming from Felicity's computer caught their attention. The blond woman looked up proudly and explained herself. "I just hacked the CCPD's servers. The whole IT system is down so they won't be able to process anyone for the next 3 to 4 hours, especially at this time of the night."</p>
<p>"Nicely done." Iris cheered. "So if we give Caitlin a badge, the cops won't be able to run it through the system either right? They won't see it's a fake or stolen one right?"</p>
<p>Caitlin's frown turned into raised eyebrows as she followed the other woman's train of thoughts.</p>
<p>A huge smile drew itself on Felicity's lips. "Exactly! As long as they haven't fixed the glitch, they won't be able to confirm any identity."</p>
<p>"Awesome!" Iris exclaimed and disappeared into one corner of the room. She came back a few seconds later with a small box in her hands. As she made her way towards Caitlin, she opened the box and went through its content without looking up. "So what do you want? CCPD? FBI? CIA? Interpol? NSA? US Marshals? I'm sure I even have a FDA one somewhere in here…"</p>
<p>Caitlin frowned and curiously looked into the box as soon as Iris reached her. With surprise, Caitlin discovered the content: a few dozens of various badges were scattered around the box.</p>
<p>"Where did you get these?" She asked in disbelief.</p>
<p>"I like stealing badges." Iris explained with a shrug, like it was the most normal thing to say.</p>
<p>Caitlin let a small chuckle escape. "That's… unusual…"</p>
<p>Iris looked up with an innocent pout on her lips. "You have your hobbies…"</p>
<p>A small smile appeared on Caitlin's face and suddenly she felt a little less panicked at the idea of getting Barry out of police custody. She wasn't alone in this. She was surrounded by people that knew her job, talented people that were experts in the fields, people that were criminals like her. They'd find a way to get him out, she was sure of it now.</p>
<p>Because for unknown reasons, Barry had put her freedom before his and nobody had ever done that for her.</p>
<p>She had given him her word.</p>
<p>She wouldn't let him down.</p>
<p>"CCPD is too risky." Eddie commented, oblivious to Caitlin's thoughts, and impressed by Iris' badge collection. "Nobody at the precinct will recognise her and it'll be suspicious."</p>
<p>"Smart." Cisco nodded as he chewed on a red vine. "But a badge will get her inside the precinct. How will she get out with Barry?"</p>
<p>They all paused and Caitlin admired as all those brains worked together as one single team. They just clicked.</p>
<p>"Let's give her a US marshals profile." Felicity finally spoke up.</p>
<p>Iris looked up with glee. "Yes! She can say Barry's in protective custody. They won't question her on his identity and won't be able to check either."</p>
<p>They all nodded in agreement and suddenly they all turned around to look at Caitlin as if they were waiting for her approval.</p>
<p>"Not bad guys." She admitted with a shrug, not wanting to appear too impressed by their collaboration.</p>
<p>"You'll have to be extra convincing though." Cisco noted.</p>
<p>"Just watch and learn." Caitlin said with a wink.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Barry was jolted awake by a horrendous smell. He hadn't been really sleeping – he was simply incapable of sleeping in a public place, even less when cops were around – but he had rested his eyes for a few minutes. His head was pounding and he was beginning to get hungry.</p>
<p>He cracked an eye open from his uncomfortable bench and saw some guy being thrown into the cell with him. The man was big and sweaty and tons of tattoos were running along his skin. He looked like the typical mobster you could see on TV.</p>
<p>Barry scrunched his nose under the smell and straightened up. His back was sore and he had a crick in the neck. He'd been sitting in this cell for the past couple of hours, waiting for the cops to process him.</p>
<p>But their system was down. The officer that had arrested him had tried to take his prints as soon as they had arrived, but nothing was working. So he had just put Barry in a holding cell while waiting for their IT system to be operational again.</p>
<p>But as time passed by, more and more criminals were being thrown in the cell with him, all waiting to be processed, all pissed for getting caught. And every cop outside of the cell was freaking out and running from left to right, trying to find a solution to their problem. Barry had found their panic very entertaining during the first hour. Now he was just tired of waiting.</p>
<p>Barry had no idea how Caitlin and the team would get him out of this mess, but somehow he didn't feel stressed about it. He felt confident that they would find a way. This IT problem was either a blessing or the results of some magic hands on a good computer. He would bet on the latter.</p>
<p>The mobster came to sit next to Barry. Scratch that, he didn't sit; he simply let himself drop on the bench, making Barry jump a little under the impact. Barry winced from both the discomfort and the smell and discreetly slid away from the other man.</p>
<p>His only wish was for the team to hurry up. Because waiting here wasn't fun at all.</p>
<p>As Barry was about to let his head rest against the wall again and close his eyes, some commotion outside of the cell caught his attention.</p>
<p>At his desk in the corner of the room, the sergeant in charge of the night shift was having an animated conversation with a woman whose face Barry couldn't see as she was facing away from him. All he knew was that she had blonde hair, was wearing a dark working suit, had a badge in her hand and that the sergeant was simultaneously threatened, annoyed and impressed by her. Something told him that the man didn't like surprises, especially the ones happening during IT crises like this one.</p>
<p>"Your guy was involved in an art theft, lady, I can't just let him go free." The cop commented with a condescending voice, that didn't sit well with the woman.</p>
<p>"It was a controlled operation, we were monitoring everything. My guy was helping law enforcement to catch the bigger fish."</p>
<p>The sergeant pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and glanced at his computer again, probably hoping the system was back online. But it didn't seem like it. He looked up at the woman again. "Who did you say you were again?"</p>
<p>"Agent Walker." She answered in a firm voice and Barry instantly straightened his back at her voice.</p>
<p>There had been too much commotion around them for him to hear her voice distinctively until now. And he had no doubts about the owner of that voice. She was here for him.</p>
<p>"Never heard of you." The sergeant grunted back.</p>
<p>The woman huffed in annoyance and the sergeant flinched. He was clearly a little afraid of her too.</p>
<p>"Well of course you've never heard of me, you idiot." She replied through grit teeth. "I'm a US Marshal; my job is to keep people's identities a secret. What would be the point of me being known? It would put my assets in jeopardy and my life on the line. I hope I can count on your discretion to keep it that way!"</p>
<p>"Yes, ma'am." The cop conceded.</p>
<p>"Good! Now where's my guy?"</p>
<p>The sergeant made a face, knowing that his next words wouldn't please the woman. "Imma have to confirm your identity first though."</p>
<p>She looked around the room and briefly paused as her eyes fell on the holding cell, on Barry more precisely. Their eyes met and his heartbeat picked up its pace.</p>
<p>She may have been wearing a blond wig and she may have been standing far from the cell, but Barry would recognise those eyes anywhere.</p>
<p>Yes, Caitlin was definitely here to get him out.</p>
<p>Before he could smile or anything, she was looking away again, their exchange so swift that the sergeant hadn't even seen her pause.</p>
<p>"Does it look like you can run my identity through the system?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she showed the chaos around them with a detached hand movement. She then shoved her badge in front of the man's eyes. "And does my badge look like it's a fake one?"</p>
<p>"No ma'am." The cop slumped a bit in his chair. He was a big man, but he looked really small in front of Caitlin right now. "And it's just a computer glitch, it'll be fixed in no time."</p>
<p>Caitlin put her badge back in place at her belt. "Well that's already too long for me. My informant can't be seen in a police precinct or my whole operation is blown."</p>
<p>"I understand but-"</p>
<p>"No but!" She cut him short. "You can call my supervisor if you want or not, but either way, I'm walking out of here with my guy in the next 5 minutes."</p>
<p>The cop winced before picking up his phone and Caitlin stopped him with a comment. "You do realise it's 6 am, right?"</p>
<p>The sergeant seemed to consider the question for a few seconds before shrugging and dialling a number. Barry tensed up at the action. There's no way someone at the US Marshal's office would confirm her story. Those phone numbers were pre-set in every cop's phone. A real US Marshal will answer the line. They were screwed.</p>
<p>But Caitlin didn't seem phased at all and when the sergeant asked her for her boss's name, she gave him one without hesitation.</p>
<p>Had she a safety net planned? Had she foreseen this turn of events?</p>
<p>The sergeant grunted a few short answers in his phone, that Barry couldn't hear, and then hung up, his face a little paler than before. He must have gotten an earful over the phone.</p>
<p>He slowly looked up at Caitlin and cleared his throat. "Who did you say you were looking for again?"</p>
<p>Caitlin sighed and Barry could've sworn she was rolling her eyes, even though he couldn't see her face. She pointed in Barry's direction with her thumb over her shoulder. "The lanky guy over there. The museum heist, remember?"</p>
<p>The sergeant grunted again before standing up and going towards the holding cell, Caitlin following him closely. He opened the gate and nodded towards Barry.</p>
<p>"You." He barked. "Get your ass over here."</p>
<p>Barry hopped on his feet and followed through, turning around and putting his arms behind his back so that the sergeant could handcuff him. After taking Barry out of the cell and closing the gate again, both men turned towards Caitlin.</p>
<p>Barry tried to catch her eyes, but she simply looked at the sergeant.</p>
<p>"Hope your operation wasn't completely busted." The cop told Caitlin while pushing Barry towards her.</p>
<p>"We'll see." She said with a simple shrug, grabbing Barry by the arm. "Thank you for your service."</p>
<p>And before the sergeant could answer, Caitlin moved to exit the room, pulling Barry with her. As soon as they were out of earshot, Barry whispered under his breath. "Lanky, really?"</p>
<p>"Shut up and walk." She groaned back.</p>
<p>Caitlin didn't break character, hand fiercely wrapped around his bicep, pushing him forward on their way out of the precinct. Once outside, she sped up her pace and turned at the next corner into a small and dark dead-end alley. Barry stumbled a bit as she pushed him out of sight of any bystander, while looking around to make sure they were completely alone. But it was 6 am; there was basically no one around. She grabbed her wig and shoved it into her coat pocket.</p>
<p>As soon as Barry found his balance again, he was thrown against the wall by a force he hadn't been expecting. Without any warning, Caitlin had thrown her arms around his neck, taking him in a fierce hug, making them both stumble back against the building.</p>
<p>Barry instantly relaxed in her arms, even though her grip around his neck was anything but tender. He could feel her trembling a bit, as the tension of the night was leaving her body. His hands were still handcuffed behind his back and were slightly hurting under her weight pushing him against the wall. But he didn't mind at all.</p>
<p>What he minded was that the handcuffs were keeping him from hugging her back. Because he really wanted to do that right now. So he simply laid his cheek on top of her head and breathed her in. Damn she smelled so much better than that mob guy in the holding cell.</p>
<p>They stayed like this for a short silent minute, tension seeping out of their bodies as they both realised they were safe and sound. Finally, Caitlin pulled back slightly, but she stayed close enough that he could feel her breath on his skin.</p>
<p>"You okay?" She croaked in a low voice.</p>
<p>Barry slowly nodded. "I am now." He whispered, his eyes flitting to her lips and back up.</p>
<p>His eye movement didn't go unnoticed and for a short second he felt like she was about to lean forward and kiss him. But Caitlin seemed to catch her own movement and she froze, as if she wasn't completely in control of what her body was about to do.</p>
<p>He saw a slight flush creep up her cheeks and she cleared her throat to break the newfound tension hanging between them. Caitlin slightly patted his shoulder before letting go of him and taking a step back.</p>
<p>Out of her coat pocket, she produced a small hairpin and asked him to turn around with a simple hand movement. Barry followed through and felt her work on his handcuffs with her hairpin. A few seconds later, a short <em>click</em> indicated that his hands were finally free.</p>
<p>He turned back around and murmured a small "Thanks", while rubbing his wrists with his hands to ease off some of the pain of being handcuffed.</p>
<p>"Let's go, I have my car around the corner." Caitlin informed him as she left the alley.</p>
<p>For a moment, Barry didn't seem to realise she had moved – still entranced by what may or may not have almost happened – until she just wasn't in the alley with him anymore. He shook himself and had to jog the few steps to catch up with her.</p>
<p>It was still dark outside and the car was barely two minutes away, so Caitlin didn't seem worried that the cops coming out of the precinct at the end of the street would notice Barry being out of handcuffs or her being out of her blond wig.</p>
<p>It wasn't until they were both in her car and had driven away that they spoke again.</p>
<p>"How did you get in?" Barry asked.</p>
<p>"I borrowed one of Iris' stolen badges. Very useful hobby, by the way." Caitlin glanced at him from the driver's seat and he smiled.</p>
<p>"And the IT system being down? Was that Felicity?"</p>
<p>"Yup."</p>
<p>Barry hummed, clearly impressed and proud to be part of such an efficient team. But something was nagging at him, there was a piece missing from the puzzle. He slightly tapped on his lower lip with his index finger before asking. "And how did your story check out with the Marshals' office? The sergeant didn't ask for a number or who to call. He just did."</p>
<p>A smile tugged at Caitlin lips and she bobbed her eyebrows up and down. "Can't figure out that part, huh?"</p>
<p>Barry shook his head, not taking his eyes off her. She was concentrating on the road, so she couldn't look back at him, but he knew she felt his stare and he somehow knew she liked it. And that pleased him immensely.</p>
<p>"Cisco hacked the sergeant's phone and bypassed any out-going calls towards Cisco's phone." She informed him. "So when the sergeant called the US Marshals' office-"</p>
<p>"He was actually calling Cisco." Barry finished for her, eyes getting wider, enjoying the story of his own breakout.</p>
<p>She smiled. "Uh-huh, so Cisco posed as the receptionist and when the sergeant asked for my so-called supervisor's name, Cisco gave to phone to Eddie."</p>
<p>Barry gasped, amazed. "Eddie, who then gave the sergeant hell for waking him up at 6 am, so he wouldn't insist on having further proof of your identity…"</p>
<p>"Well aren't you a smart boy?" Caitlin teased with a smirk, looking away from the road as they stopped at a red light.</p>
<p>Barry scoffed at her tone, but couldn't help but beam back at her. He absolutely loved their easy banter. It felt so natural and easy that he couldn't remember a time where he hadn't known her. Which was crazy since he basically knew nothing about her.</p>
<p>Their eyes met and he suddenly whispered, "Thank you", surprising even himself by the sudden seriousness of his voice.</p>
<p>Caitlin glanced at the streetlamp to check if it was still red and looked back at him, her breath shallow and her eyes softer than he'd ever seen them to be.</p>
<p>Slowly, she put her right hand on his knee and squeezed slightly. "I told you I'd come back for you." She replied in an equally serious and soft voice.</p>
<p>His heart tripped in his chest.</p>
<p>He wanted to say something meaningful, something that would make her heart act like his own. But he couldn't find the right words. His mind was still foggy from the hug she had given him ten minutes ago.</p>
<p>In the corner of his eyes, he saw the light turn green again. It caught Caitlin's attention and she started the car. As she was about to take her hand off his knee, Barry delicately caught it and intertwined his fingers through hers.</p>
<p>Caitlin glanced at their hands and then at his face with raised eyebrows from surprise. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, before looking back at the road, closing her fingers around his own and laying their joined hands back on his thigh.</p>
<p>Barry had never felt that way about anyone. He barely knew her and their lifestyle was far away from a normal one. They could get arrested and be separated at any moment. They could get hurt. They could even dislike each other at one point. What did he even know about her except that she was an exceptional con woman? Nothing… He didn't even know if she liked pizza, for heaven's sake!</p>
<p>But he didn't care.</p>
<p>Because something was sure, now that they had met, their lives would be changed forever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Soooo? What did you think? At first I had planned for either both of them to get caught or both getting away at the beginning of this chapter, but as I wrote it, Barry became selfless and heroic on his own, I had absolutely zero control over that! So I hope you liked that take! Let me knnoow :D</p>
<p>Stay safe out there and until next time ! ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. What in the Con is Going on?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>Chapter 6 – What in the Con is Going on?</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>Barry couldn't sleep.</p><p>There was something keeping his mind from shutting down, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.</p><p>After getting him out of police custody, Caitlin and Barry had gone back to The Verdant's underground to join the rest of the team. After cheering their success, at getting him out, for a good half hour, exhaustion of the whole night had fallen upon each member. They had decided to set up camp here – Barry had found a dozen cot beds in one utility closet of the underground – and agreed they would talk about their failed heist later.</p><p>Barry had sighed in relief as his back had hit the cot, finally able to release the tension that had piled up on his shoulders in the past 24 hours. But the relief had been short-lived. As soon as he had closed his eyes, questions and doubts had plagued his mind, leaving him unable to get a single second of sleep.</p><p>So there he was, 2 hours later still unable to get some rest. With a silent huff, Barry sat up on the cot he had been trying to sleep on. Looking briefly around himself, he realised he was the only one having a hard time sleeping.</p><p>On his left, a few feet away from him, Caitlin was peacefully sleeping on her side, one hand under her pillow and the other clutched on the cot's side bar. She was frowning and Barry wondered if she wasn't maybe dreaming something unpleasant, and his heart ached for her. Maybe it was better not sleeping at all.</p><p>He thought back on that car ride earlier – the way her fingers had felt so soft between his, how he had felt her tense and then relax completely, the way the silence between them had been everything except uncomfortable – and a small smile appeared on his lips. They had let go of each other's hand to get out of the car and hadn't talked about it since, staying away from the other as they spoke with the team, but staying close enough to be able to check if the other was okay.</p><p>Something had changed between them last night, and he couldn't wait to see where it would lead them. But now was not the time to delve on that, he had way too many other problems floating in his mind.</p><p>Barry rolled his shoulders back to get rid of the crick in his back before furtively standing up and leaving the room without waking anyone up. As he reached the front door of his little bunker – as Felicity liked to call it – Barry carefully opened it, knowing very well that this door had the bad habit of creaking every time it moved.</p><p>Once outside and the door closed behind, he sat down on the front step and watched as the day slowly woke up. It was already past 8:30 in the morning, but the surroundings of a nightclub were rarely active before 2 or 3 pm. So Barry just sat there, enjoying the peace and quiet.</p><p>Except his mind still couldn't shut up.</p><p>Getting him out of the police precinct felt like a success, yet he knew they had failed their job last night. They had planned on stealing at least half a dozen paintings. And the money from those paintings would've set them for at least a few years, money he could've used to help out people in need.</p><p>That was something Barry liked to do, stealing from the rich and give some to the poor. Iris liked to call him the modern Robin Hood but he knew she was as much attached to giving back as him. They had both met in a foster home back when they were kids and they both knew how hard it was growing up with absent parents and no money.</p><p>But last night, they had failed. And he wasn't used to that.</p><p>Elbows resting on his bent knees, Barry slowly massaged his temples to ease away the headache that was threatening to attack full force.</p><p>What in the world had gone wrong?</p><p>He trusted Felicity, he knew she was the best hacker there was. No way she would've missed those alarm systems. Sure they had been working with a new team, but he unconsciously trusted Caitlin with his life – he wouldn't delve on that part, he had enough on his mind right now – so he was sure it wasn't a mistake on their part that the alarm had gone off.</p><p>Plus, he remembered vividly how he'd been staring at Caitlin and her at him when everything had gone to hell. Neither he nor she had been touching anything. They weren't the reason the alarm had gone off. Something else had triggered it.</p><p>Something or <em>someone</em> else.</p><p>Barry frowned at the thought. Something was fishy. But where would he get his answers?</p><p>A small creaking sound behind him brought him out of his thoughts and made him look over his shoulder. Caitlin was delicately opening the door to join him outside, before closing it behind her, trying to make the least noise possible. He smiled when she winced at the noise the door made anyway.</p><p>She sighed when the door finally closed without <em>too</em> much noise and then hugged herself, as a small chill ran up her spine. "Can't sleep either, huh?" She said softly as their eyes met.</p><p>Barry shook his head and slid to the side to free some space on the front step for her to sit next to him. "Too much on my mind… I can't seem to figure out what went wrong last night…"</p><p>She sat down, bringing her knees back to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, before nodding. "About that… I'm sorry for yelling at you…"</p><p>Barry didn't understand right away but then remembered how she had gone off on him, accusing him of messing things up and how she should've never trusted him. He could still feel the sting of her words but shrugged it off. "Yeah… and I'm sorry for…" Barry seemed to ponder for a few seconds before making a face. "You know what? I've got nothing to be sorry about cause I didn't do anything wrong."</p><p>She blushed in embarrassment and looked away for a second. "I know…"</p><p>Barry saw the opportunity to tease her a bit more. She looked really cute right now. "Yet you were convinced it was my fault…" He continued.</p><p>She jerked her head back up, gaping at him. "I said I was sorry!"</p><p>He grinned at her and she realised he was just teasing. With a huff, she punched him softly in the shoulder to make him stop.</p><p>He just grinned harder.</p><p>Caitlin rolled her eyes and gave him a shy smile that made his heart squeeze. How was it possible to fall for someone so hard and so fast? He shook his head as a small chuckle bubbled up.</p><p>A comfortable silence settled between them for a few minutes as they observed the field in front of them. It was still very peaceful.</p><p>Caitlin was the first one to break the silence. "So any hypothesis on why the alarm went off? And why those metal grids closed down?"</p><p>Barry shook his head again, playing with his hands. "No, not yet… But I'm convinced it wasn't our fault."</p><p>"I'm glad you don't think Cisco messed up somewhere with the alarms."</p><p>"I trust you." He shrugged, as if it were an obvious answer.</p><p>Caitlin frowned slightly at his reply. "Apart from the fact that I gave you no reasons <em>whatsoever</em> to trust me like that, what does that have to do with anything?"</p><p>Barry looked back up and met her eyes. "You trust Cisco. I trust you. Thus, I'm pretty sure Cisco didn't mess up." He stated as if explaining the most basic thing ever.</p><p>Caitlin worried her lower lip with her teeth, as she seemed to consider his words, a soft crease present between her eyebrows. "Hum… This makes kind of sense in a very naïve kind of way… But I like it… Thank you."</p><p>Barry shrugged. "Anyway, if it wasn't our fault, then someone else is messing with us."</p><p>"But how?"</p><p>He shook his head. "I have no idea… Hence why I'm out here trying to figure it out."</p><p>Caitlin nodded and silence settled between them again. During this time, they kept glancing at the other, looking away each time their eyes met. Barry felt like a teenager next to his first crush. It was so silly yet somehow endearing.</p><p>And the thoughts about the failed heist flew out his mind, replaced by memories of their different interactions in the past year. How he had seen her the first time at that sunny terrace. How he had instantly known there was more to her than just a damsel in distress. How she had blown his mind by perfectly conning that stranger. And how he had wanted to know <em>more</em>.</p><p>And then his mind went to that second meeting. How beautiful she had looked in that blue gown. How his breath had caught, seeing her again after giving up the hopes of getting a call from her.</p><p>"Why didn't you call me?" Barry suddenly blurted out.</p><p>She turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised from surprise. "Excuse me?"</p><p>He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together to get some control over his next words. He hadn't planned on talking about this particular subject right now, but he wasn't really the master of his own actions when she was around him. "When I gave you my number almost a year ago…" He explained slowly. "Why didn't you call me?"</p><p>"Are you for real?" Caitlin chuckled in disbelief.</p><p>He just waited for her to continue, looking at her with serious eyes.</p><p>Her chuckle died down. "You had just caught me stealing from someone. I wasn't going to give you a chance to catch me."</p><p>"But I'm not a cop." Barry protested softly.</p><p>"And I know that now, but I didn't then." Caitlin countered. "How could I have known that you weren't some undercover cop trying to convince me to work with you to catch the bigger fish?"</p><p>Barry pulled his head back, making a face. "Who's the bigger fish?"</p><p>"There's no bigger fish, Barry." She sighed, rolling her eyes yet again.</p><p>"So why are you talking about a bigger fish?"</p><p>"That's not… You're missing the point!" She protested, not nearly as annoyed as she acted.</p><p>Barry suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh don't worry I got the point, I'm just messing with you."</p><p>Caitlin gasped at him and playfully hit his shoulder with the back of her hand while shaking her head. He squealed, faking being hurt before laughing harder again and Caitlin couldn't help but follow his lead at the contagious sounds coming out of his throat.</p><p>As his laughter died down, Barry finally admitted something to her, his voice now barely a rumble in his chest. "I just wished you would've called. I was charmed from the get go."</p><p>She slowly nodded and whispered back, "I know… I kind of was too."</p><p>He looked back at her with surprise in his eyes. "I don't believe you."</p><p>"Well ok, maybe you charmed me on that second meeting…" She looked down at her hands before looking back up through her eyelashes, a teasing smile on her lips. "Or maybe it was just the sexy suit and tie." She added cheekily.</p><p>Barry gaped at her, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. His brain just went blank. How could she switch from light teasing to straight out hard flirting so fast? His brain couldn't compute with that kind of dynamic without going into overdrive.</p><p>She would be the death of him.</p><p>And they hadn't even kissed yet…</p><p>He was in <em>so much</em> trouble…</p><p>When Caitlin saw he wasn't answering, she raised her head again and burst out laughing at his face. "Damn you're so easy."</p><p>"I… I… what… I…" He stuttered, at a loss for words.</p><p>She bumped her shoulder against his. "Relax Barry, I was just teasing."</p><p>"Yes but… You… I… Are you flirting with me right now?" His voice was an octave higher than usual.</p><p>"Well yeah…" Caitlin shrugged. "I thought it was pretty obvious that I liked you."</p><p>He opened his mouth before closing it right away, a cute frown adorning his face. He looked straight into her eyes and opened his mouth again. "You do?"</p><p>"Come on…" She drawled, one mesmerizing eyebrow lifted.</p><p>He cleared his throat. "Ok maybe I kind of suspected there was something, but… I mean… I thought you were just playing around… Trying to get my guard down or something…"</p><p>Caitlin rolled her eyes, the smile on her lips never faltering. "Well, maybe I should just be more obvious about it…"</p><p>And then, before he could think about the meaning of her words, Caitlin started leaning forwards,<em> oh so very</em> slowly, her dark eyes flitting to his lips. Barry stopped breathing.</p><p>Was this really happening? Was he still sleeping?</p><p><em>No</em>. <em>Because you never actually fell asleep, you dumbass.</em></p><p>A shaky breath escaped his lips and decided to lean forward and meet her halfway. Because if this wasn't a dream, well of course he would reciprocate. It was Caitlin, for heaven's sake. He couldn't wait to kiss her.</p><p>But as soon as they were close enough for him to feel her breath caressing his skin, a loud creaking noise made Caitlin pull away so fast that Barry wondered if she had even been leaning towards him.</p><p>"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"</p><p>Caitlin cleared her throat and looked back at the person that had just opened the door, making the loud noise to bring them back to reality. "Hum no, we're good. What's up Cisco?" She asked in a very controlled voice.</p><p>Barry didn't even dare looking up at her friend, too confused about what had been about to happen and too embarrassed about getting caught.</p><p>Cisco hesitated before explaining his presence. "We received a weird message on Felicity's computer." He said, showing the inside of the bunker behind him with his thumb over his shoulder. "You guys should come check it out."</p><p>Barry felt Caitlin glance at him before she turned back to Cisco. "Okay we'll be there in a minute."</p><p>Cisco nodded, making a face, uncomfortable that he had obviously interrupted something even though his friend had denied it, before scurrying back into the room, closing the door behind him with yet another loud creak.</p><p>Silence settled back between the two young con artists, Barry not daring looking back at her, Caitlin still half turned towards the door behind which Cisco had disappeared.</p><p>Well this had been an awkward moment. Had they really been about to kiss? After knowing so little from each other? Considering they were both outlaws and would never lead normal lives?</p><p>Barry knew that, without Cisco's interruption, they would have gone through with it. Would it have been a good idea? Would they have regretted it instantly? Would they have put their behaviour on the count of mutual attraction or pent-up tension from the previous night? He had no answers to those questions… But damn Cisco…</p><p>Barry was beet red and looking at his shoes while a chuckle shook Caitlin's shoulders. She tapped on his shoulder lightly before standing up and following Cisco inside The Verdant's underground. It took Barry a few additional seconds to get his bearings back before he joined them.</p><p>Both teams were up and looking tired, yet weirdly intrigued by something on Felicity's computer. The blonde woman looked up when Barry arrived. "A voice message came in and the notification woke us all up." She explained.</p><p>Barry forgot all about what had happened outside and focused on what Felicity was showing him. He frowned while asking, "A voice message? From whom?"</p><p>"No idea…" The young hacker shook her head. "We haven't listened to it yet. But the weird thing is that this is a secure network…"</p><p>"Meaning?" Barry's frown deepened and he felt Caitlin tense up next to him. Something felt off and he was sure she was feeling it too.</p><p>Felicity took a few seconds before answering. "No one can actually send me a message, even less a voice file, without my permission."</p><p>"Does that mean…" He trailed off, afraid to say out loud what he thought was happening.</p><p>But Felicity finished for him. "Yeah, someone hacked in."</p><p>"Great, just great…" Iris groaned before a yawn escaped her lips, reminding everyone that they were all dead tired.</p><p>Caitlin nodded towards Felicity. "Play it."</p><p>Felicity glanced at Barry for confirmation and he simply nodded back. The blonde took a deep breath before pressing play.</p><p>All 6 of them stayed dead silent during a few seconds, almost afraid to breathe.</p><p>"<em>Well well well… Amy and James. James and Amy…" </em></p><p>Barry frowned at the deep voice coming out of Felicity's computer. Something about that voice was familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.</p><p>
  <em>James and Amy.</em>
</p><p>Suddenly, something seemed to click and he jerked around to watch Caitlin. She had figured it out too. She looked stricken, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, arms crossed and fists clenched. She seemed to feel his eyes on her and she looked back, fear present in her auburn orbs.</p><p>One name came immediately to his mind: Eobard Thawne.</p><p>They had both conned him. And he had now hacked into Felicity's network to send them a message. He was now coming for them.</p><p>The rest of the team seemed confused, not sure what was happening. But before they could ask questions, the voice message continued.</p><p>"<em>I should've known I couldn't trust Mr Levi when I met him. Especially when he acted so surprised at seeing my Amy. But what can I say, I am such a trusting person." </em></p><p>Barry groaned at the possessive pronoun he used. Sure he had used their cover names, but Barry knew he meant Caitlin. And he felt sick just thinking about Eobard laying a finger on her. Was it the thought of Eobard in particular or just any man? Now wasn't the moment to delve on that particular thought.</p><p>Pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together.</p><p>Eobard's recording continued in the same snarky tone. "<em>You want to know how I figured it out that you were bad news? When you two came back dishevelled from your little make-out session in the old kitchen</em>."</p><p>Barry choked.</p><p>"You guys did what?" Felicity squealed as she looked up at Barry and Caitlin. Iris, Eddie and Cisco looked at them as shocked as the blonde woman.</p><p>"We didn't make out!" Caitlin scowled in protest.</p><p>"I wish…" Barry whispered.</p><p>They had both spoken at the same time and the confusion in the team's eyes intensified.</p><p>Caitlin pressed her lips together to keep her laughter in as she watched Barry's face flushing when he realised what had just admitted out loud.</p><p>Eobard's snicker resonated in the now silent room. It was perfectly timed, as if he was actually reacting to what was happening. Except this was a recording. He somehow knew this would get a rise out of them.</p><p>"<em>Now let's go back to the fun stuff</em>." Eobard started speaking again. "<em>Something got stolen from me that same night I met Mr Levi. Something very valuable. And I instantly knew you, James, had something to do with it. So either you find a way to get it back to me. Or you find a way to replace it with something even more valuable. That is a choice I leave up to you both. I heard you two had a thing for paintings? I'm sorry I had to interfere with that Van Gogh heist, but that was my only way of getting to you… I'm sure you guys will understand, right?"</em></p><p>And then it all clicked together. The security alarm that had gone off while they hadn't been touching anything. The metal grid closing the art gallery to trap them inside. They hadn't done anything wrong. Eobard was the one messing with them. He had been the one activating all those security systems. He was the reason Barry had gotten caught by the police.</p><p>"<em>Oh by the way," </em>Eobard continued serenely,<em> "I have amazing footage of you two in that art gallery. So don't even think about declining this job I have for you. Anyway, you have two weeks to get back to me with my price. If not, say good bye to your cosy life, because I'm coming for you.</em>"</p><p>Barry was now anxiously playing with his hands. He could feel the control over his life escaping him, and he couldn't do anything to keep it in reach. Everything was going sideways. It wasn't supposed to go that way. They weren't supposed to get caught. He was too smart for that. He had always made sure his identity was secure, that no one could trace his crimes back to him.</p><p>So how in the world were things going bad all of a sudden?</p><p>"<em>Oh and Amy? You should be relieved I'm only making you pay for my saxophone. I might change my mind if you don't go through with this</em>."</p><p>And then the line went dead.</p><p>A shiver ran up Caitlin's back, as the fresh threat seemed to penetrate her skin. Barry felt himself growl, wanting nothing else but to punch something.</p><p>This wasn't good.</p><p>Silence was now floating around the room, everyone trying to process what they had just heard, trying to put together the different pieces of the puzzle. And all of a sudden, chaos broke loose, and each member of both teams started asking questions at the same time.</p><p>"Who the hell are James and Amy?"</p><p>"You two worked together before this?"</p><p>"Was that Thawne?"</p><p>"He's got video footage?"</p><p>"How did he know we were the ones who stole his saxophone?"</p><p>"How the hell did he hack into my system?"</p><p>"How did he find us?"</p><p>"What are we going to do?"</p><p>"Something more valuable?"</p><p>"What did you guys steal?"</p><p>This could have gone on and on for at least half an hour and a headache was starting to show back its ugly face in Barry's head. But all those questions were very valid. And he hadn't answers to every one of them.</p><p>"Guys! Please! Shut up!" Caitlin suddenly shouted, raising her right hand as a shield, as if all those tumbling thoughts coming from the team were keeping her from making sense of what was happening, as if shielding herself would help her concentrate.</p><p>She then turned towards Barry with a frown. "How much did you steal from Eobard?" She asked.</p><p>Barry shrugged. "I never actually went through with it!"</p><p>Caitlin's eyebrows jumped up on her forehead from surprise. "You mean he's coming after you even though you never stole from him?"</p><p>Barry nodded. Caitlin nervously nibbled on her lower lip before glancing around them to the other members of their newfound team.</p><p>"Can we talk outside for a moment?" She asked Barry. When he simply nodded again, she assured the rest of the team that they'd be back soon and would explain everything they knew. But she wanted to speak in private with Barry first. They didn't seem to mind, so Barry and Caitlin went outside, back to where they had been not even 20 minutes before.</p><p>Curious about why she wanted to talk to him in private, Barry waited in silence for her to start the conversation. She seemed deep in thoughts, walking back and forth in front of him, still nervously biting her lower lip and running her hands in her hair. He should've been nervous too. Because they were in real trouble. But he somehow felt confident that things would be okay.</p><p>And then she stopped and looked up at him. "I'm really sorry…" She croaked.</p><p>Barry frowned. "Why?"</p><p>With one hand on her hip and the other in her hair, she explained herself. "It's my fault." Her right hand left her hair and showed the door they had just used to go outside. "All of this, it's my fault. I'm the one who stole from him. And now he's dragging you into this."</p><p>"Well I did plan to con him…"</p><p>"Yeah but you didn't!" She protested and he could feel that this fact was clearly bothering her.</p><p>"It's not your fault." He whispered.</p><p>"Of course it is!" She countered in strained voice.</p><p>He could see she was anxious and overwhelmed. And all he wanted to do was to make her feel better about all of this. Barry took a step towards her but stopped as soon as he saw her tense up and take a small step back. He ignored the pinch in his heart at her action. She was putting her guard back up. She was slipping through his fingers again.</p><p>"We'll figure something out." He simply said, trying to hide the fact that he was affected by her action.</p><p>"No." Caitlin shook her head, her eyes suddenly harder than before, her right hand mirroring the left one, sitting firmly on her hip. "Let me take care of this."</p><p>He stood straighter, trying to show as much confidence as he could. "I can help."</p><p>"Barry… I'm not sure that's a good idea. I'm not sure <em>this</em>," she showed the space between them with the back and forth of her hand, "is a good idea."</p><p>Barry flinched. So now she was <em>completely</em> pulling away from him. Half an hour ago, they had been about to kiss and now she didn't want him to work with her anymore?</p><p>Oh no, he wouldn't let her do that to them. It was time to show her what he was made of.</p><p>"Well I'm involved whether you like it or not." He bit back in a stern voice, jaw clenched as his temper flared. "I know what you're doing but you can't shut me out. Whether you think it's a good idea or not, I'm involved because Eobard put me, <em>us</em>, in this mess together. So I'm helping out. Deal with it."</p><p>Caitlin gaped at him. He couldn't tell if she was shocked or impressed – or <em>both</em> – by his behaviour. But he didn't wait to figure it out; he just turned around and went back inside to come up with a plan with the team.</p><p>There were in this together now. And he already cared too much about her to let her deal with this on her own.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Soo, any thoughts on how they'll get out of this mess? Let me know what you thought, leave a review, I always appreciate any feedback :) </p><p>Thanks for reading ! Until next time, stay safe ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there! Sorry for the wait between chapters, life and inspiration keep getting in the way... But thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate it!</p><p>Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!!</p><p>I don't own anything :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Barry breathed out.</p><p>He had just gotten the nod.</p><p>It was now or never.</p><p>Grabbing the messenger bag off the floor, Barry made his way towards the exit. He knew perfectly where to go, he had rehearsed this a thousand times. He knew which turns to take to avoid any guards and knew exactly the amount of time he had for each step. No reasons for things to go wrong.</p><p>He took the first turn to enter a new room and something in the corner of his eye caught his attention that made him stop for a short second. Caitlin. Beautiful as ever. Their eyes met and they shared a small smile before she turned back to what she was currently doing.</p><p>So did he.</p><p>Except that small exchange had cost him a few seconds in his escape which he paid instantly.</p><p>"Hey you! Stop!" Someone shouted behind him.</p><p>
  <em>Shit!</em>
</p><p>Without turning to see who was shouting at him, Barry took off in the direction of the exit. Hand firmly wrapped around the bag's strap, he ran as fast as he could, turning at each corner he encountered, knowing it'll enhance the probability of losing his pursuer. But as more time passed, the man kept calling him to stop, attracting the attention of more people towards him.</p><p>But Barry kept running. His breath was short and his legs were beginning to ache, but he could feel that he was close to getting out of here. Just a few more strides and he'd be free. Grabbing what was left of his energy, Barry pushed on his legs to turn the next corner, almost slipping but managing to stay upright with his right hand on the nearby wall.</p><p>But as soon as he turned the corner, two loud '<em>bang',</em> accompanied by two impacts in his chest, threw him backwards, pain shooting through his body. The bag he had been clutching to so hard fell to the ground with a loud '<em>clank'.</em></p><p>"Bang! You're dead!" A snarky voice shouted.</p><p>Barry stumbled back, looking at the gun in front of him in disbelief. He had just been shot. But that wasn't part of the plan… He was sure that he'd get out of this. What had gone wrong? And why did that hurt so much? With a groan, Barry looked down at his chest, his hand instinctively going to rub the impact points where two big blue dots were dripping down his T-shirt. He brought his fingers closer to his eyes to examine the blue substance.</p><p>Dumbfounded, he looked back at his assailant. "Paintball guns? Really, Cisco?"</p><p>Cisco lowered paintball gun and shrugged. "Had to make it believable, right?"</p><p>"Yeah but that hurts!" Barry protested, rubbing his chest again. He would have bruises by the end of the day, that was for sure. "You're not supposed to shoot someone with that thing from <em>this</em> close."</p><p>Cisco shrugged. "Well think of it as a warning. Today we train with paintball guns but if you screw up on Saturday it'll be real ass guns. And you know that those hurt way more…"</p><p>Barry was about to retort something that he hoped would have been smart and witty, but the sound of high heels coming from their left stopped him.</p><p>"Cisco, that's enough! I think he got it." Caitlin approached, her stride as calculated as ever.</p><p>Cisco made a face before turning around and leaving them alone.</p><p>"Nice T-shirt." Caitlin commented, nodding towards the two blue paint splatters on Barry's white shirt.</p><p>"It's gonna leave a mark." Barry groaned, still pissed at Cisco for shooting him.</p><p>She chuckled at his antics before nodding towards the bag forgotten on the floor. "What happened out there?"</p><p>"There's not enough time to get out of this place."</p><p>She frowned. "Not according to our calculations. We made sure that having Eddie in place would buy you enough time to escape."</p><p>"Yeah well there's a difference between what we calculated and what is actually going to happen." Barry sighed, running a tired hand through his hair. "We'll never make it out of there alive."</p><p>"We will, trust me." She said softly, her frown disappearing bit by bit.</p><p>"Didn't you just see what happened?" He retorted in disbelief, pointing to his chest with both hands. "I got shot!" He squealed.</p><p>She rolled her eyes at his dramatic behaviour. "The plan is solid. We just need a little more practice…"</p><p>"We only have a few days left, Cait, and then we're finished…" His voice was a little more strained than before and suddenly she seemed to realise that he was actually worried about this job. "We don't have much time left to practice."</p><p>"Don't worry, you'll get it right. Besides, I got a back-up plan." She said in a soothing voice.</p><p>"Could you share it with the room?" He glanced around him and added. "I know that technically we're outside, but you get my point. Can you tell me?"</p><p>"Now where's the fun in that?" She chuckled while shaking her head. But Barry wasn't amused and she instantly spotted the lines of worry running along his forehead. Her smile fell as she took a step forward and reached out with her hand to trace her fingers along his jaw. "Just trust me, ok? I've got something in mind but if I share it with you, it'll get your mind off the actual plan and the past few days would have been for nothing." Her voice was barely a whisper but she was standing so close to him that he could literally feel the words running on his skin. "I know you can do this. But in case things go south, know that I've got your back."</p><p>Barry swallowed hard. Caitlin had been distant ever since they had received Eobard's message about 10 days ago. Ever since she had tried to push him away but he had refused. He knew she was protecting herself, but he missed being close to her, even if it was just to joke around. He missed her presence. Because even when she was around, her mind seemed elsewhere. The only times she was truly present was when they were hatching their plan for their next job. And sometimes she just disappeared completely for a few hours without an explanation.</p><p>And that lack of interactions and explanations kept Barry awake at nights. He was tired and worried – probably explaining why he was off his game lately, why Cisco had managed to shoot him even though he knew their plan was solid.</p><p>So for a short moment, he revelled in the feeling of her fingers against his jaw, but that couldn't tame the worry at the pit of his stomach.</p><p>Seeing that he hadn't said a word, Caitlin asked, "Barry, do you trust me?"</p><p>Slowly, he nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. A small smile grew on her lips and she patted his cheek very softly with her hand that was still against his jaw. "Good, now let's go back to work."</p><p>Barry sighed as he watched her turn around a walk back to the main building, already missing her touch. With slumped shoulders and a heavy heart, he followed her. They were currently outside the abandoned S.T.A.R. labs, in a huge parking lot that Cisco had transformed into a perfect replica of a mansion's interior. Hunter Zolomon's mansion, to be precise.</p><p>It was Caitlin's idea to work from the abandoned laboratories. According to what she had told him, the scientific building had suffered from an explosion due to some experiment a few years back and had been empty since then. People avoided S.T.A.R. labs like the plague and nobody dared to approach the building. Knowing they would be left alone there, Caitlin had gotten used to using the building with her team to plan her cons.</p><p>Both teams had gathered there right after Eobard Thawne's message, to come up with a plan, and basically had lived there for the past 10 days. They had to steal something really valuable to give back to Thawne, and there was no time to waste. So it had resulted into a big brainstorm to find a good enough target.</p><p>It had been Iris' suggestion to steal from Hunter Zolomon.</p><p>Hunter Zolomon was a well-renowned art collector. From the small and simple icons to full blown masterpieces, Hunter wanted to collect everything valuable. That also included jewlery, Fabergé eggs, sculptures, houses and women. With his chiselled jaw and his well-built shoulders, the man knew very well how to charm women for his upmost pleasure.</p><p>He was also oh very smug. He liked to expose everything he had. Barry hated the kind of man Mr Zolomon represented. But without those men, he would probably be out of a job.</p><p>The day after Thawne's threat, Iris had come into S.T.A.R. labs with that day's newspaper. Page 6 announced the big return of Mr Hunter Zolomon at his mansion in Central City for the holidays – when wasn't the man on holidays should've been the main focus of the article, rather than how gorgeous and rich he was, in Barry's opinion.</p><p>It had been obvious to the whole team that Hunter's comeback to his biggest residence was a sign sent from a very playful entity. It was the perfect target. Hunter liked to have people over all the time, one evening after the other, the man invited people to admire his house and gloat. It was the perfect opportunity to snatch something up and pay Thawne back. Except, while Hunter collected art, he also collected guns and security guards.</p><p>So they had to have an airtight plan if they wanted to get the job done without being noticed. So in the past 10 days, Barry and the team had worked on said plan and practiced their moves. Hence the replica of Zolomon's house in the empty parking lot of S.T.A.R. labs.</p><p>It had been a team effort, really. Iris had managed to find the house's blueprints, while Eddie had gathered enough information about the security system and the guards' rounds, while Felicity had hacked into the network. And finally to practice the whole plan, Cisco had done an amazing work at creating a life size replica of the interior with wooden planks and laser beams.</p><p>And fake security guards. With paintball guns.</p><p>With yet another groan, Barry continued to rub his chest where Cisco had shot him, as he stepped into S.T.A.R. labs. He could hear the clicking of Caitlin's high heels a few feet in front of him, but he kept staring at the floor as he walked towards the main room where the rest of the team probably was. When he entered the room, they were all standing next to Felicity and her computer, probably talking about their last practice. Only Iris was missing.</p><p>"What happened out there, Barry?" Eddie asked as soon as Barry joined them. "I gave you the nod in time for you to make your escape, right?"</p><p>"Yeah I know it wasn't your fault Eddie." Barry looked away, uncomfortable, while playing with his hands. "I don't know what happened… I think the egg slipped from my hands and I lost a few precious seconds and it was too late."</p><p>"Dude, the egg was in the bag. You never had it in your hands." Cisco noted and Caitlin raised her head at the comment, looking worriedly in Barry's direction. Why would he lie about what had gone wrong?</p><p>Barry shrugged. "I… I don't know man, I must've waited too long after Eddie's nod to grab the bag or something…"</p><p>"Maybe we should just change the plan." Felicity suggested.</p><p>Caitlin shook her head. "No way, we're too short on time."</p><p>Silence followed as they all reviewed the plan in their heads.</p><p>The plan was simple. Felicity had managed to get them on the invitation list of Saturday's cocktail party so that's when they would do it. Cisco had created a beautiful replica of Zolomon's Fabergé Egg, Eddie had managed to infiltrate the security agency and would be there as a security guard, Felicity would monitor everything from her computer, Caitlin would serve as a distraction by introducing herself to Mr. Zolomon, Iris would swap the real egg with the replica before putting it into a bag that Barry would retrieve and escape with.</p><p>The plan was simple.</p><p>If Barry actually managed to get out of there without getting shot.</p><p>Seeing Barry's tired face, Caitlin spoke up. "Ok we're done for today guys. We'll try again tomorrow."</p><p>They all nodded and everyone went back to their own activities; Cisco took the time to clean up his paintball guns, Eddie bent over the blueprints to review the plan again, Felicity went back to whatever it was she was doing on her computer and Caitlin went in one corner of the room to iron a red dress.</p><p>Barry frowned and joined Caitlin. "Where's Iris?"</p><p>She barely looked up before answering. "She's working on something."</p><p>"And what's that?" He pressed on, seeing she didn't seem to want to give more information.</p><p>"Don't worry about, nothing important. She'll probably be back in a few minutes."</p><p>Barry frowned again at her answer. He knew she was keeping something from him, she had said it herself earlier, but he hadn't expected Iris to be in on it too. Or was it concerning yet another thing she was keeping from him?</p><p>Whatever it was, Barry didn't like being kept out of the loop. Even if he trusted both Caitlin and Iris.</p><p>Caitlin put the iron down and picked up the dress, put it against herself and turned around to face him. "So, what do you think?" She asked, referring to the dress.</p><p>"It's nice." He said quietly.</p><p>She raised a single eyebrow at him. "Nice? Jeez, keep the excitement to yourself, Barry, people are going to think you're gushing."</p><p>With one hand rubbing the back of his neck, he looked bashfully away. "No I'm sorry. You'll look beautiful in that dress."</p><p>"I was teasing. But thanks." She chuckled, but sobered up when she saw that he wasn't reacting to her playfulness. "Barry, are you okay?"</p><p>"Yeah, it's just… I mean… do you…" He looked around them nervously and shook his body, as if it would shake away the nervousness. "Ugh what is wrong with me? Why can't I get a straight word out?"</p><p>Caitlin chortled before softly biting down on her lower lip. Ever since she had met him, she had found his little rambling episodes very <em>very</em> cute. But she could see that something was bothering him, and she needed to know what. With surprising speed, she put the dress back on the rack behind her, grabbed his hand and left the room, pulling him with her. She heard him stumble a bit on his feet but he followed anyway. Without a word, she pulled him towards the next room where they would be alone. She knew Barry found it easier to confide in her when it was just the two of them.</p><p>Once alone, she stopped and turned around to face him. But she didn't bother to let go of his hand.</p><p>"Okay, what's going on with you?" She asked softly, squeezing his hand lightly to show her support. "You've been off your game lately… but especially today."</p><p>"I'm okay, I promise." He croaked, avoiding looking at her in the eyes.</p><p>"Barry…" She warned, knowing very well he wasn't telling the truth.</p><p>"It's just… I…" He huffed in annoyance. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to talk about this with her. But then, he felt her thumb stroking the back of his hand and it made his eyes swivel back to hers. That gave him the courage to be honest. He took a deep breath before saying, "Do you really have to play the honeypot in this con?"</p><p>Caitlin's nose scrunched up at his question. That was the last thing she had expected him to ask her. "I'm sorry, what?"</p><p>Barry swallowed before explaining himself. "The honeypot, you know? Do you really have to be Zolomon's distraction? Isn't there a way to do this job without having you flirting with him?" She frowned and he shook his head, annoyed that his explanation didn't seem clear. "I mean I get why you do it! You're beautiful, and people are attracted to you and it's very easy to trust you… I should know… but I feel like we're using you, and you're always put in the same position… with a random guy's arm around you even if you don't like him and… aren't you sick of being the honeypot?"</p><p>The crease between her eyebrows got deeper and she let go of his hand to cross her arms on her chest. "Barry, why the concern now all of a sudden? We came up with the plan all together, remember?"</p><p>He looked down at his hands, wringing them together as if trying to remember the feel of her touch. "Yeah I know, but we should be able to do this job without you being in another man's arms."</p><p>"Imma stop you right there, Barry." Caitlin replied with a stern voice, her right arm stretched in front of her to literally stop him with the palm of her hand. "You do know I won't do anything with Zolomon, right? The job is simple, I just have to get him out of the egg's room long enough for Iris to swap the eggs."</p><p>"Well that's the plan, yes, but you never know…"</p><p>"I can take care of myself." She protested; arms back to being crossed over her chest in a defensive position.</p><p>"I know that, believe me. It's just…" He trailed off for a few seconds, looking around them to be sure they were alone. "After what Eobard said… about making you pay… I know <em>that</em> job went too far. I don't want the same happening here."</p><p>"I- what?" She looked back at him with wide eyes. "Wait a minute, you think I slept with Thawne?"</p><p>Barry shrugged. "Well… that's... that's what he meant right? And I saw you together at that charity event. You two seemed awfully cosy with each other."</p><p>"I can't believe this…" Caitlin groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers, before speaking louder. "Even though it's none of your business, I'll have you know that I never went all the way with him. I was leading him on. Always giving him enough to keep him interested but always keeping him at arm's length. And the same thing will go with Zolomon. I don't sleep with targets unless it's really unavoidable."</p><p>Barry deflated at the news, relief clear on his face as tension left his body. "Oh okay…"</p><p>"That is seriously what has been bothering you?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm in control of the situation. That's why I don't have a problem with being the pretty bait. I play them. I'm not the prey, they are! And they don't even know it."</p><p>"Good… that's good…" He nodded, happy about what she was telling him. "But just to be sure… what do you consider the situation to be unavoidable?"</p><p>"Barry!" She protested.</p><p>He lifted his hands in surrender. "Right, right, yeah ok I'll stop with the questions…"</p><p>"Wait…" Caitlin paused as her mouth formed a perfectly shaped 'o'. "<em>Bartholomew</em>, are you jealous?" She drawled with one quirky eyebrow raised.</p><p>"What?" He squealed. "No! I… no! I'm just concerned."</p><p>"About me being close to other men… Hum… sure, whatever you say!"</p><p>"I swear, I just…" He stopped as he noticed how Caitlin was biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing. "Oh ok, nice, make fun of me all you want."</p><p>"I'm not making fun of you!" She replied in a high-pitched voice. "I think it's cute that you worry about me."</p><p>Barry made a face, but he couldn't help the little upward lift of the right corner of his mouth. "Cute… that's what every man dreams of hearing women call him…"</p><p>She playfully swatted him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "Oh come on, Barry, you know what I mean."</p><p>Barry nodded while gleefully bouncing back and forth on the ball of his feet like a little kid. She giggled in response and his heart soared in his chest. What he would give to hear only that for the rest of his life…</p><p>Oh dear, he was into deep already, wasn't he? He didn't know how it had happened and why, but it did… He had been completely charmed by her and he wouldn't have any other way. And if something happened to her…</p><p>He stopped bouncing and asked seriously, "Will you promise me you'll be careful at least?"</p><p>Laughter died on her lips at the clear worry in his voice and he heard her breath catch in her throat. His seriousness seemed to unsettle her. She stood straighter, hands on her hips, and cleared her throat. "I always am." She whispered defensively.</p><p>"Cait…" He warned, a little wary of this game between them. Sometimes he wondered if she didn't consider him as a mark too. Was she playing him like she played Thawne and would play Zolomon? Was she giving him enough to make him want more, but keeping him at arm's length? Was he just another prey?</p><p>Caitlin sighed, let her hands fall in front of her and looked down at them, as if she couldn't look at him straight in the eyes. "Ok," she whispered softly, "I promise I'll be careful." She paused for an instant, suddenly as serious as he was, her teeth worrying her lower lip. And then she looked up at him with knitted brows as she spoke again. "Could you promise me something in return though?"</p><p>It was Barry's turn to frown in surprise. "Depends what it is."</p><p>She licked her lower lip to soothe away any trace of biting. It bought her time to choose her next words carefully. "On Saturday, when you make your escape, please focus on that. And only that."</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"I know why you lost time on today's practice." She looked away for a moment, knowing it was probably a sore subject, considering he had kept it from the rest of the team when they had asked about it earlier. Caitlin waited to see if he would tell her on his own, but he stayed quiet. So she looked back and spoke softly. "You were checking up on me."</p><p>Barry blushed furiously at being caught in the act. But he shouldn't be surprised, she was incredibly smart. Of course she had understood what he was doing when their eyes had met.</p><p>"Promise me that won't happen on Saturday." She took a step forward, keeping her voice low and controlled. "Please focus on your task. Don't check up on me."</p><p>Barry took a moment to consider her request. He knew she was right, during practice, he had lost precious time just because she had caught his eyes and he just wanted to see how she was doing. He knew that it couldn't happen on the real job. But he also knew that he probably couldn't help himself. And it would be really hard not to check up on her on Saturday evening. Especially if she was flirting with Zolomon. Sure, out of pride, he had denied it, but he <em>was</em> kind of jealous.</p><p>And if he told her this right now, she'd be mad and would probably call the whole thing off. Because if he failed his escape, the whole team would be in jeopardy. But they couldn't call it off because they didn't have a backup plan. And Thawne would make them pay.</p><p>They had to do this job or they were done.</p><p>So really, he didn't have any other choice except slowly nodding and croaking a small "I promise" even though he knew he couldn't promise her that. Her safety was important to him.</p><p>A small smile appeared on Caitlin's lips and he instantly felt less guilty about lying if it meant he could see her smile.</p><p>She patted him on the chest, making sure she avoided the area where he'd been shot by Cisco, and took a step back. "Plus, you'll see, honeypot is not the only job I can pull."</p><p>Barry smiled. "Oh I know that, it's just that you seem to master that one pretty well."</p><p>She playfully bounced her eyebrows on her forehead. "That's because there's always something hiding behind it that no one ever sees."</p><p>"And what's that?"</p><p>"You'll see soon enough." She teased him with a wink and he couldn't even be mad at her for keeping so many things mysterious. She had just hinted share something with him that she didn't share with anyone else.</p><p>"Oh, I don't like the sound of that…" Barry groaned without really meaning it, but his heart soared. She was amazing.</p><p>She giggled. "Now come on, I'm starving, let's grab something to eat."</p><p>Caitlin grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her again as she made her way outside the room. The joy of spending time with her again appeared at the pit of his stomach, replacing the worry that had been constantly present for the past 10 days. Sure she was keeping things from him, but that was part of who she was as a person, right? She was a con artist, it was in her job description to keep secrets – he should know, he was one too. Maybe that's even what he liked so much about this back and forth between them. There was always some kind of surprise, keeping him on his toes, making every day a new adventure.</p><p>And this could've been a problem in any normal relationship. Except one involving two con artists. He just had to trust her enough to be sure that what she was keeping from him wasn't vital for their relationship or for the well-being of the other. He had to trust her that she wouldn't keep anything huge from him.</p><p>But why was he even thinking about things like that? It wasn't like they were in a relationship. They were teammates, friends, at best. Who knew what would happen after their next job? They would probably go their separate ways and never see each other again. He should probably thank Thawne for making them work together on this, allowing them to spend more time together. Because if he hadn't made that threat, maybe Caitlin would've fled on the other side of the country by now, or even on another continent, who knew?</p><p>But now wasn't the time to think about 'what ifs'. Now was the time to enjoy the evening, train more tomorrow and get the job on Saturday, with her. And if there was one thing Barry was good at, it was enjoying his time with Caitlin and making her laugh. And those moments he was sure would be captured in his mind forever. Whatever would happen, he knew he would have those moments to remember her by.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ready to see if they each can keep their promises during the job? What do you think Caitlin is keeping from him? Are things going to go as planned? Let me know what you thought about this chapter, I always love reading feedbacks from the readers! :D</p><p>Also I'm thinking about wrapping this story in a few chapters, just enough to tie every loose ends without going overboard ;)</p><p>Thank you for reading, until next time and stay safe! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Cons We Keep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am so so so sorry for the long wait... I have no excuses except maybe lack of motivation because of the world's current situation... But let's not delve on that right now, here is the new chapter and I truly hope you enjoy it !</p><p>I don't own anything :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of music was beating through the mansion's walls. People were laughing, dancing and drinking. Art was being shown off. Everybody seemed carefree and worry-free.</p><p>Everybody except a small group of con artists scattered around the house. Their focus was solely on the security guards and a certain Fabergé Egg.</p><p>Barry grabbed a glass of champagne, as a waiter walked by with a tray full of them, while scanning over the room. He had to do something with his hands or they would betray his nervousness. Which was something he wasn't used to. He never got that nervous during a job. But he also had never done a job involving that many participants. And his life had never depended on a job that much before either.</p><p>So yes. Barry was nervous. But things had gone perfectly according to plan so far. Iris, Caitlin, Eddie and Barry had all gotten into the party without raising suspicions. Felicity and Cisco were monitoring everything from the van outside the house. Everything was under control.</p><p>He took a gulp of his drink as he walked into the next room. Various famous paintings were adorning the walls and if Barry had taken the time to inspect them closely, he would've noticed that some of them were the actual and original masterpieces – as in those paintings belonged in famous museums and not in a rich man's mansion.</p><p>But Barry's attention was otherwise occupied. He had just entered the main room where Caitlin was about to introduce herself to Hunter Zolomon. She was wearing a magnificent red dress that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was pulled up in a graceful bun. A couple of strands were encasing her soft face and a shy yet calculated smile was lifting her lips.</p><p>Hunter's attention had also been caught by the beautiful woman next to him. In seconds, his whole body was facing her and the people he had been talking to a mere moment before were now being completely ignored. Caitlin was clearly very good at attracting attention.</p><p>Barry continued to walk around aimlessly, or at least appearing to be. He didn't want anyone to notice his presence and he was succeeding. After finishing his glass of champagne, he put it away on a nearby table and moved towards the adjoining room. But a clear and joyful laugh caught his attention. He instantly recognised it as being Caitlin's laugh and something twisted in his gut.</p><p>He hated not being able to be next to her to enjoy a laugh with her. He hated it even more that Zolomon was probably the reason she was laughing. He shook his head. He had to get his focus back. A smug smile curled up on his lips as he realised she was probably faking her reaction anyway.</p><p>Just as his mood was lifting up again, Barry glanced to his right where he saw Eddie in a security guard outfit appear in a doorway. The blonde man gave him an almost imperceptible nod and Barry knew that was his cue to go. Without hesitating, Barry turned around and left the room, resisting the urge to check up on Caitlin one last time. He had made a promise and he would try his best to keep it.</p><p>As planned, a small messenger bag was laying in the corner of one precise room, where Iris had left it. And as planned, Barry grabbed it and made a beeline towards the mansion's exit. Smoothly, he walked through the different rooms without attracting anyone's attention, avoiding the curious eyes and smiling to the innocent looks. He was a master at this. No one would ever suspect him to have a stolen egg in his bag.</p><p>This was going great.</p><p>He had almost made his way to the entrance hall where the huge front door meant freedom for him and his friends. And he would've made it without a problem. If it weren't for Caitlin and Hunter secretly walking up the stairs to the 1st floor.</p><p>Barry stopped dead in his tracks and watched as their mark put a hand on the small of Caitlin's back, softly pushing her forward into another room upstairs. For a second, Barry wondered if he had missed a step in their plan. Was Caitlin supposed to lure Hunter in another room during their heist? Or was that part of her secret plan she wouldn't tell him anything about? Or was it something else entirely and Caitlin was actually in danger?</p><p>"Caitlin?" He groaned quietly in hopes that he would get a reply through his earpiece. He knew she couldn't actually reply without being discovered by Hunter, but she would find a way to tell him if she were safe. <em>If</em> being the decisive word.</p><p>But he was only met with silence.</p><p>Something dropped at the bottom of his stomach. He couldn't leave now, not knowing if Caitlin was safe or not. She hadn't really seemed under duress, but she had looked a bit tense. What was he supposed to do with this information?</p><p>Swiftly, Barry took a few steps back and retired into the closest bathroom he could find. After checking he was completely alone, he spoke up, knowing his friends in the van would be able to communicate with him through his earpiece.</p><p>"Felicity, Cisco, do you guys have eyes on Caitlin?"</p><p>"Where the hell are you Barry? You were supposed to come out that front door 47 seconds ago!" Cisco protested.</p><p>Barry rolled his eyes even though nobody could actually see him. "Don't worry about that. I'm in the northeast corner bathroom. But I lost Caitlin. Do you have eyes on her?"</p><p>Felicity huffed in annoyance. "That is none of your concern right now, she has her own escape plan that doesn't involve you. And she's not supposed to get out of the party before at least 1 hour."</p><p>"I know what we planned, guys. Now would you just tell me where she is, for heaven's sake?" Barry groaned in frustration. He knew he wasn't supposed to wait for Caitlin, but he had a bad feeling about all of this. She wasn't supposed to leave the party. She wasn't supposed to follow Hunter upstairs. She wasn't supposed to be pushed upstairs by Hunter.</p><p>It took a couple of seconds for Felicity to scan every camera feed to try to locate their friend. "Hum… actually…" She finally said hesitantly.</p><p>"What is it?" Barry asked worriedly.</p><p>"We lost contact with Caitlin." Cisco intervened, a similar worry noticeable in his voice. "Her comms are off and we can't find her on any camera."</p><p>Well Barry had gathered that much already. But he had hoped they had had an explanation for her sudden disappearance. "That's because she went upstairs where there aren't any security cameras." He explained. "With Zolomon…"</p><p>There was a pause during which Barry was sure Felicity and Cisco were exchanging curious looks. And then Felicity spoke up. "What is she doing there?"</p><p>"I was hoping you guys had an answer to that." Barry said quickly, his patience running thin. And when he got no replies from his friends, he continued. "Do you understand now why I can't leave yet?"</p><p>"Barry, you should stick to the plan." Felicity sighed. "She made it very clear that the most important thing was to get out of there with the egg."</p><p>Barry huffed. "I know but I just can't. I have to go check on Caitlin. She might be in danger."</p><p>"What about the egg?"</p><p>Barry paused at Cisco's question. He couldn't risk his friends' freedom just because he had a hunch about something. Especially considering that his judgement wasn't at its best when Caitlin was involved. No he had to make sure everyone could get out of here safely.</p><p>"Where's Iris?" He asked.</p><p>It took only a second for Cisco to locate her. "Still in the main room mingling with people."</p><p>Barry nodded. "Ok, tell her to come here. I'm leaving the bag behind the wooden cabinet. She can take the egg out of here. I'm going after Caitlin."</p><p>"But Barry…" Felicity started.</p><p>But Barry interrupted her before she could attempt to change his mind. "Please Felicity."</p><p>Both computer geniuses seemed to consider his words before conceding. "Ok. Be careful."</p><p>"Always am."</p><p>Barry swiftly hid the messenger bag where he had said he would and then left the room as if he had only freshened up for a couple of minutes. Avoiding the security guards as best as he could, he sneaked past the front door towards the stairway leading up to the 1st floor. He thanked his lucky star for getting upstairs undetected.</p><p>Soon enough, he reached the door behind which he had seen Caitlin and Hunter disappear. Barry tried to lean against the door to try and decipher what was happening behind it. But he was only rewarded by dead silence. The dread at the pit of his stomach only got heavier as seconds passed by. He had to get inside to see what was happening. And he somehow knew Caitlin was in danger. But he couldn't just barge into the room like that.</p><p>Or could he?</p><p>Without debating further on the question, Barry took a deep breath, closed his right hand into a firm fist and aggressively pushed the door open with his left one. Without even waiting to see what was in the room, Barry shouted in his most threatening voice while brandishing his fist. "Stay away from her!"</p><p>What he found in the room wasn't really what he had expected. Caitlin and Hunter were both standing next to his desk, closer to each other than two strangers should, his hand firmly on her arm.</p><p>Was it firmly or seductively?</p><p>Before Barry could analyse the scene further, Hunter let go of Caitlin's arm and faced the intruder with mixture of surprise and rage written all over his face.</p><p>"What in the hell?" He grunted.</p><p>Barry fumed. With grit teeth and clenched fists, he groaned, "I said. Stay. Away. From-"</p><p>"Hey relax, I'm fine." Caitlin interjected taking a step forward, physically putting herself between Barry and Hunter.</p><p>The calm in her voice had the effect of a glass of water being thrown over the fire in his stomach. And suddenly Barry was lost. Why was she so calm?</p><p>Hunter seemed as lost, but his anger didn't seem to disappear. "Who the hell is this guy?"</p><p>With a kind smile, Caitlin turned to Hunter. "I'm sorry about this… That's my brother. He has lightning psychosis."</p><p>"Bro-… I have what now?" Barry squealed. It felt like she had just pulled the rug from under his feet and he was at a loss for words.</p><p>"Lightning psychosis, remember?" Caitlin glared at him to shut up and turned back to Hunter. With a honey-like voice, she explained herself. "He got struck by lightning a few months back and lightning psychosis is a common side effect. It entails mood swings, sudden bursts of anger or affection and other lapses in judgement…" She added that last point while pointedly looking back at a dumbfounded Barry, before speaking to Hunter again, taking a seductive step towards him. "I'm sorry for that, I should've made sure he took all his meds before coming here."</p><p>Hunter seemed to relax and believe every word coming out of her mouth. It was like he was enchanted. "Oh no problems. No harm done." He smiled smugly. "So, about that deal?"</p><p>"Thank you. But I should make sure he gets home safely." She answered softly while pointing at Barry with her thumb over her shoulder. "Could we take a rain-check on that deal? We still have some things to talk about."</p><p>Hunter threw a disgusted look towards a sheepish looking Barry, before turning his attention back to her. "Of course. You have my number, let me know."</p><p>A small giggle escaped Caitlin's lips and Barry felt the fire at the pit of his stomach start anew, but for a different reason now. He didn't like the tension he was feeling between those two. But it wasn't the time to act on it. Caitlin was saving his ass, so he was smart enough to know when to shut up and follow her lead.</p><p>Without another word, Caitlin turned around and made her way to exit the room, grabbing Barry by the arm and pulling him behind her. Her hold on him was anything but soft and it took all of his willpower to keep himself from wincing.</p><p>Still dragging him behind her, they made their way down the stairs and left the mansion through the front door. When the security guards sent them a curious look, she simply replied with a "Men are jerks" and the guards were smart enough to know not to interrupt what looked like a lovers quarrel.</p><p>Once out of eyeshot, Caitlin furiously let go of Barry and kept walking towards where the van was parked on the parallel street.</p><p>Seeing as she didn't seem about to speak first nor wait for him, Barry hurried his steps to keep up with her rhythm and asked, "Lightning psychosis, really?" His voice was still on the squeaky side.</p><p>Without sparing him a glance, she answered with a stern voice. "We'll talk when we're back at S.T.A.R. labs. I can't do this right now. You got the egg?"</p><p>"Yeah." He answered, hoping Iris had managed to get it out of Zolomon's house without being caught. If not, he'd be screwed.</p><p>"Good."</p><p>And Barry knew better than try to continue this conversation. The sweet and honey-like behaviour he had seen in Hunter's study was long gone and the Caitlin walking next to him was colder than he had ever seen her. She was furious with him, furious he had walked into that room and caught her doing… what had she even been doing? He still had no idea what in the hell had been going on.</p><p>But he had to be patient if he wanted answers.</p><p>First, they had to get back to the van where Felicity, Cisco, and hopefully Iris, were waiting for them with the egg and their ticket to freedom. That was if Caitlin didn't kill him first.</p><p>As it turned out, everything had gone smoothly during Caitlin's and Barry's absence. Iris had made her way back to the van with their prize, while Eddie was at the end of his shift and would make him way back to S.T.A.R. labs on his own later in the hour. So as soon as Barry and Caitlin joined the van, they all drove off.</p><p>The tension between the two con artists was so palpable that none of their teammates dared to ask any questions about what had happened. Caitlin's eyes were shooting daggers and Barry didn't dare looking at anything else but his hands. So it was in silence that they drove off.</p><p>And once at S.T.A.R. labs, before Cisco even had time to turn off the ignition, Caitlin stormed off in a fury, leaving a frigid atmosphere behind her. Cisco, Iris and Felicity, all still sitting in the van, all turned as one to glare at Barry. It was clear who was responsible for Caitlin's wrath.</p><p>He had the decency to look ashamed of himself, lowering his head between his shoulders. "I'll go talk to her." He sighed before leaving the van and following Caitlin into S.T.A.R. labs while dragging his feet.</p><p>It didn't take him long to locate her. After all, Barry knew her enough to guess that she would go hide in her office. It was pretty secluded and nobody went to that side of S.T.A.R. labs unless they wanted to talk to Caitlin. She had told him once that she had chosen this isolated room as her office to be sure to be left alone when she wanted to think. And the others knew better than to bother her when she hid there.</p><p>Well at least if she decided to kill him, nobody would hear his cries. Barry chuckled bitterly at the thought and shook his head. Of course she wouldn't kill him. Beat him up a bit maybe, but surely not kill him. Right?</p><p>As he reached the office, Barry paused for a couple of second in front of the door. What was the protocol here? Should he knock? Should he just barge in like he had done with Zolomon's office? Should he go in quietly or just storm in while shouting?</p><p>He shook his head again. Damn he was an idiot sometimes.</p><p>After taking a deep breath, he rose his hand a softly knocked twice on the door. Not hearing anything from the other side, Barry leaned closer just in case he had missed a "come in" or something of the sort. But there was no sound.</p><p>Just as he was about to knock again, the door was pulled open and Barry almost stumbled forward under the surprise.</p><p>"What do you want?" Caitlin asked with a glare, one hand still on the door handle, the other firmly sitting on her hip. What a power pose, Barry thought and for a second he was both terribly attracted to her and completely terrified of her at the same time.</p><p>"Can we talk?" He asked quietly, not completely meeting her eyes.</p><p>She narrowed her eyes before walking back into the room, leaving the path free for him to come inside and close the door behind him. Which he did diligently.</p><p>He swept his eyes across the room to buy himself a few seconds. He had never actually entered her office in the last few days. It was a spacious room with an old-fashioned desk in the middle and a pull out couch on the right. Shelves filled with various books were running along the back wall and a poster of one of Van Gogh's paintings was hanging above the couch. And it looked like Caitlin had spent the last few nights sleeping here as said couch was open in its bed configuration, blanket and pillows lying scattered on it.</p><p>When Barry turned back to look at her, she was leaning back against her desk, arms crossed over her chest, silently waiting for him to start. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully if he didn't want her to blow up with anger.</p><p>Barry cleared his throat. "Listen I'm sorry. I know I acted like an idiot."</p><p>"Idiot is a weak word." She bit back. "You could've gotten both of us killed with your little stunt."</p><p>Barry's shoulders dropped down, realising that there wouldn't be much he could say that would soothe her anger.</p><p>Before he could think of his next words, she spoke up again, with a slight snarky air. "Remind me, Barry, what did we talk about?"</p><p>"I- wh… what? When?" He stuttered.</p><p>"Don't play stupid with me. What did we talk about?" Caitlin huffed.</p><p>"You mean before the job?" He asked with a concentrated frown on his face. But she didn't reply. She patiently waited for him to continue. Which made him think they were talking about the same thing. "Listen, I know I promised I wouldn't check up on you and…"</p><p>"Yes, you did." She stated gravely.</p><p>"But you perfectly knew I couldn't keep that promise."</p><p>"Oh please, spare me." She said bitterly while rolling her eyes and it sparked something inside Barry. He hadn't come here to pick a fight, but apparently that's what she was looking for. So who was he to deny her that.</p><p>He took an angry step forward, his face hardening and his voice more controlled than ever. "No but you did know that! You knew you were up to something else, you knew you would stray away from the plan, but you made me promise <em>that</em> anyway."</p><p>Caitlin scowled. "Tsk, of course I did! Because I knew you'd act stupidly if I didn't make you promise that! My mistake was to think you were smart enough to keep that promise!"</p><p>Barry made a face. "Nice, thanks for that." He paced around the room, frustrated with this whole situation. He ran his hand through his hair, as if it would help him sort through his thoughts. She was unnerving. She kept secrets and then she blamed him? He suddenly stopped and turned back to her, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "You know what, this whole thing wouldn't have happened if you'd just told me what the hell you were up to!"</p><p>She gasped at his accusation. "Oh so now it's my fault?"</p><p>"I- you know what? Yes it's your fault! If you'd been following our plan, I wouldn't have followed you!" Barry's voice was harder than she'd ever heard it. And if he had been paying closer attention to her features, he would've seen her flinch slightly.</p><p>"Oh that's rich…" Caitlin rolled her eyes and straightened her back, making her stance more imposing. "I don't care what the hell made you barge into that room, you just can't act like that, Barry! You almost blew the whole operation!"</p><p>"I did it for you! I was worried!" Barry shouted back, throwing his right arm to the side as if showing her something that wasn't there. "You were the one doing who knows what with Zolomon behind our back!"</p><p>"I told you I could take care of myself!" She snapped back. "There was no need for you to barge in like this! I had everything under control!" If he had wanted her to get angry, he couldn't have done a better job. Her eyes were narrow, her jaw was clenched and her nostrils were flaring.</p><p>"Well how could I know? You turned your damn comms off!"</p><p>"Because I needed the silence! You guys are real chatterboxes!"</p><p>Barry gaped at her, not believing her words. What a poor excuse, he thought, they hadn't been chatting <em>that</em> much over the comms. "So what? Was I supposed to just wait and see?"</p><p>"Yes," Caitlin exclaimed while nodding furiously, "that's exactly what you were supposed to do!"</p><p>He paused, not having expected her to reply positively and then shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest to give himself some composure. "Well too bad… you know very well why I couldn't do that…"</p><p>"Well actually no, I don't!" Caitlin pushed herself from her desk, moving from her still position for the first time since they had started this argument. She took a step forward and poked him repeatedly in the chest with her menacing index finger. "I thought you trusted me!" Poke. "So why, huh?" Poke. "Why couldn't you just let me do my job?" Poke. "Why couldn't you just wait a few more minutes?"</p><p>Each poke of her finger was pushing him more towards the edge of the metaphoric cliff. And suddenly it was all too much and Barry exploded. "Because I care about you, damn it!" He shouted, throwing his hands in the air and making her step back in shock. "And just the thought of something bad happening to you makes me sick!"</p><p>As soon as the words came out of his mouth, tension popped in the room. His shoulders slumped down; his left hand came to rest on his hip while his right one went to ruffle his hair. Caitlin was looking at him mouth agape and eyes wide.</p><p>Barry nervously shuffled his feet and paced back and forth for a few seconds, waiting for her to say something. But she seemed frozen, the hand that had been poking at him a moment before was hanging in the air. He stopped in front of her and huffed. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I wasn't thinking straight. I have no right to say that and you don't owe me anything. I should've-"</p><p>Just as he was about to lose himself into yet another long ramble with no end, Caitlin threw herself at him, hands encasing his face, lips crashing against his. His mind went blank, his words lost in his throat at the feel of her soft lips against his. It took him a few seconds to realise what was actually happening to him and before he could do anything, she pulled away, taking a step back, fingers hovering over her lips as if she could barely believed what she had just done.</p><p>Their eyes met, and the tension was back up. The moment had been so fleeting that he almost didn't believe it had actually happened. If it weren't for the leftovers of her lips' taste on his, Barry would've bet it was his mind messing with him. But it wasn't.</p><p>Without thinking a second more, Barry took a step forward, his right hand cupped her jaw while his left one grabbed her waist to bring her closer to him and he captured her lips in a heated kiss.</p><p>Under the momentum, she grabbed his shoulders to keep herself upright and they stumbled back until her legs hit her desk. A whimper escaped her throat because of the impact and she felt him about to pull back to probably apologise. But she decided otherwise. Her right hand migrated from his shoulder to the back of is neck, forcing him closer to her and he complied without resistance.</p><p>And she kissed him back with everything she had.</p><p>It wasn't soft or delicate. It was hard and bruising and <em>oh</em> so very hot. They had both known there was mutual attraction between them ever since their first meeting. After all, their whole relationship was based on flirting and teasing. But they had somehow never acted on it and this was the result of pent-up tension and want.</p><p>Barry's heart soared in his chest as Caitlin's fingers weaved themselves through his hair, and he deepened the kiss. In response, she moaned and gave him total access of her mouth. He couldn't quite believe this was actually happening. Caitlin had always been this sort of femme fatale for him. Desirable but so out of reach. And maybe it was a persona she liked to wear around him just to keep him at arm's length.</p><p>Because, if the way she was kissing him back was anything to go by, she clearly desired him as much as he desired her. Who had known that their huge fight would've lead to this precise activity?</p><p>And then the fight came rushing back in Barry's mind. They still had a problem in their hands that they hadn't solved. She was still keeping things from him. They were still mad at each other and kissing wouldn't make all of this disappear.</p><p>"Cait, wait…" With unknown willpower, Barry suddenly pulled back, breathing heavily. Caitlin's eyes fluttered open in surprise, a soft frown pulling at her eyebrows and cute pout drawing at her lips. Her fingers in his hair stilled but stayed there. She looked so beautiful that he seemed to loose his train of thoughts. And for a moment he didn't really remember why he had pulled away.</p><p>She took that moment to study his face and then something similar to hurt seemed to cross over her eyes. Was he <em>that</em> transparent that she could read his thoughts just by reading his face? Or did she know him <em>that</em> well?</p><p>Her soft confused frown transformed itself into a resigned one. "Maybe we shouldn't…" Caitlin breathed out, speaking up for him, knowing that he couldn't really think straight right now but that he had his reasons for stopping them. She clearly wanted this, she was stopping just for his sake, because he had been the one to pull back.</p><p>He swallowed hard, nodding slowly. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. She already knew him so well that it made her a thousand times more attractive. Sure they had their issues, but neither could deny this pull between them. They <em>understood</em> each other.</p><p>"Yeah maybe this isn't…" Barry tried again, but lost the track of his sentence as his attention was brought to her lower lip currently being trapped between her teeth and a low groan reverberated through his throat. In response, her fingers started playing with his hair again. His eyes swivelled back to hers. He had never seen them so dark with need and want.</p><p>To hell with issues, he wanted this.</p><p>With smoothness he wasn't even aware he could manage, Barry lowered himself a bit so his hands could grab her behind her thighs and he swiftly pulled her up to sit her on the desk. She squealed in surprise, her hands leaving his hair to grab his shoulders in order to stay upright.</p><p>Without hesitating, Caitlin parted her legs to welcome him closer, her fingers running along his jaw as he leaned forward. Barry paused a breath away from her and Caitlin's lips curled up into a dazzling smile. That's all he needed to close the gap and catch her lips into a searing kiss. And she welcomed him, closing her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist while his hands ran up and down her back.</p><p>There would be time to talk later. Right now, all he wanted was her. And he would be damned if he didn't show her right now <em>how much</em>. A couple of hours earlier, he had been afraid for her life and now she was in his arms demonstrating how alive she actually was. They'd sort through their issues later.</p><p>Yes, they would talk later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I would love to hear your thoughts! So don't hesitate to leave a little review, it would make my day! :D Thanks for reading !</p><p>Until next time, stay safe out there ! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>